Centre must maintain NH 10 : Necessity of drastic steps to retrieve the situation from bad to worse

EOI, Editorial, 3 July 2024 : Darjeeling M. P. Raju Bista is leaving no stone unturned in trying to move the Centre to find a lasting solution to the problem of repeated landslides and subsidences in the arterial National Highway 10 that connects Sikkim and the Kalimpong district of West Bengal with the rest of the country. 

Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang too in his recent visit to Delhi has met senior Central Ministers, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, and requested them to ensure that the NH 10 be restored to a good shape. The plea of both of them has been that the Central agencies like the National Highway Authority of India or the National Highway and Infrastructure Development Corporation assume directly the responsibility of maintenance of the highway, instead of delegating the responsibility to the West Bengal PWD. 

Unfortunately, there has so far been no visible initiative from the Centre in this regard though Raju Bista was assured in his meeting with Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Monday that officials of his Ministry had been asked to expedite the process of transferring the maintenance of the NH 10 from the West Bengal PWD to the NHIDCL.

The NH 10 suffered serious damage during the Glacial Lake Outburst Flood in river Teesta in October 2023, with the river water washing away the formation of the road at some places. Since then, landslides and disruptions have become routine on this road; disrupting traffic often for hours or days. In fact, the situation is going drastic steps to retrieve the situation from bad to worse. Last Friday, there was a huge landslide at Likhubir; one of the spots in the Kalimpong district of West Bengal notorious for such disruptions. The traffic on the road had to be diverted through alternative routes for the whole day.

Now this condition of the NH 10 calls for drastic steps to retrieve the situation as this road is also important for the needs of the army which is heavily deployed along the China border in Sikkim. Besides, the road is the lifeline for the people of Sikkim and Kalimpong. If this road is closed, people of Sikkim have to take alternative routes to reach the plains of Siliguri. Ever since the GLOF, the movement of goods vehicles on this road has been difficult and the prices of essential commodities, including vegetables, have shot up in Sikkim. 

An alternative road is coming up, the National Highway 717A. It may serve the need of defence, particularly in east Sikkim, once the road is ready. But its completion will take time. Besides, the civilian population will have to depend on the NH 10 which touches the urban centres in Sikkim and Kalimpong and is shorter; coming down to the plains at Sevoke, while the NH 717A reaches the plains at Bagrakote. 

The responsibility of the maintenance of this lifeline of Sikkim should not be left to the West Bengal PWD because the West Bengal government is now cash-strapped and tasks like the maintenance of roads may be its last priority. 

Going by the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal, it is now evident that the political survival of the Trinamool Congress government in the state will depend upon the distribution of largesse like Lakshmi Bhandar. With the assembly elections in West Bengal due in less than two years’ time, it is obvious that the priority of the West Bengal government in the coming months will be on arranging funds to continue with such schemes. The thankless but essential national priority like maintaining smooth road communication in these hills will have to be taken care of by the Centr