Huge landslide at Likhubir closes NH 10 to traffic for whole day

YOWAN MOTHAY, EOI, KALIMPONG, JUNE 29, 2024 : The National Highway-10,which is considered the lifeline of Kalimpong and Sikkim, has been badly damaged by the rain on Friday night. National Highway-10 remained closed to traffic on Friday. In the evening the road was opened to one-way traffic by the PWD but the District Magistrate of Kalimpong appealed to people not to travel on the road for fear of falling boulders.

The rain on Friday night caused extensive damage especially to the stretch of NH 10 between 29 Mile and Ravi Jhora. There was a huge landslide between 29 Mile and Likhubir, blocking the highway.

Some other roads in the same hills also cracked and some roads collapsed in the Teesta river bed. Almost eight months after the Glacial Lake Outburst Flood disaster, National Highway-10 has not been restored to normal. The problem of frequent highway closures is happening. Even when the highway is open, the movement of passenger vehicles and heavy vehicles is not going smoothly.

Traveling on the highway is full of risks and getting stuck in traffic snarls is a daily problem. The heavy rains in the last few days have caused extensive damage in the Malli Bridge, Ravi Jhora and Likhuvir areas of National Highway-10. Drivers and passengers are facing problems on a daily basis. 

Especially from Ravi Jhora up to 29 Miles jams have become a daily feature.

As a result, drivers are frustrated. Drivers and organizations are raising questions about the slow pace of the PWD in restoring the highway construction. Local drivers have complained that they have to spend two to three hours more time than usual to reach their destination.

Though the water level of river Teesta has decreased, the construction work of the protection wall by PWD on the road to Darjeeling in Ravi Jhora, apart of NH 10, has not progressed. The administration has not opened this road to traffic, but vehicles are using it throughout the day to access the Peshok Road to reach Darjeeling.