NH-10 Bengal-Sikkim route restricts vehicle movement for repairs

The district magistrate of Kalimpong in West Bengal issued an order on Sunday, announcing the restriction of vehicular movement on National Highway 10, which connects West Bengal with Sikkim. The restriction was imposed indefinitely to facilitate repair works on a portion of the highway. The order directed the concerned authorities to restrict and divert vehicular movement from Rabi Jhora to 29th Mile until further notice. Locals expressed concerns about the inconvenience caused by this restriction and diversion. They mentioned that due to the diversion, a small car would take an additional six to seven hours to reach Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim, from Siliguri in north Bengal. Goods vehicles were expected to take 9-10 hours longer than usual to traverse the NH-10 route. The order attributed the repair work at Rabi Jhora and Likhu Veer on NH-10 to recent heavy rainfall, which had damaged this stretch of the highway. Officials highlighted the dangers posed by boulders rolling down the hills in Likhu Veer due to rainfall and the damage incurred between Rabi Jhora and 29th Mile on the highway. The officials urged everyone to use alternative routes for travel between Sikkim and Siliguri. The order specified that only small vehicles would be permitted to travel from Rangpo to Siliguri via Monsoong-17 Mile-Algarah-Lava-Gorubathan and vice versa at all times. Small and goods vehicles were permitted to use the route via Melli bridge-Chitrey-Kalimpong town-Algarah-Lava-Gorubathan to Siliguri and vice versa. However, goods vehicles were restricted to this route between 9 pm and 6 am. Additionally, the order allowed goods and small vehicles to travel round the clock from Reshi-Pedong-Algarah-Lava-Gorubathan-Siliguri and vice versa.