Heavy rains over the past 24 hours triggered landslides at multiple places in North Sikkim, cutting off the sensitive district on the China border from the rest of the state for over an hour on Thursday morning at a time there was heightened tension across all frontiers with China.

The major landslides had occurred on two roads that connect North Sikkim with the rest of the state on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday. One was on NH310A at Ambithang, 3km from the district headquarters of Mangan, and the other at Namok Khola on the Dikchu-Mangan road. The two roads serve as links between the border and the rest of Sikkim.

Multiple stretches of both the roads were destroyed in the landslides. On NH310A, the major landslide was at Ambithang.

“The landslide at Ambithang was cleared within one-and-a-half hours, but it will take about four days to restore the Dikchu road,” North Sikkim district collector Tenzing T. Kaleon told The Telegraph.

With the restoration of NH310A, the China border in North Sikkim can be accessed from the rest of the Himalayan state.

While NH310A is maintained by the national highway wing of the Sikkim roads and bridges department, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) looks after the Dikchu-Mangan road.

The prompt restoration of one of the road links is a result of both preparedness and providence. Preparedness because of the ongoing border tension, and providence because a hill came down on NH310A unlike the Dikchu-Mangan road where the road formation itself was swept away by the landslide.

“Considering the strategic location of the highway, it is very essential to keep the road open at all times. We have taken all measures to ensure that roads are opened at the earliest as and when there is any disruption to facilitate the movement of troops and machinery to the frontiers,” G.T. Dhungel, an MLA and adviser to the roads and bridges department, told The Telegraph.

Sikkim chief minister P.S. Tamang (Golay) had recently promised to ensure hassle-free movement of army vehicles on the highways in the state.

Participating in an all-party meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi following the recent violent stand-off between Indian and Chinese troops in Ladakh, Golay is also reported to have pledged to help boost infrastructure in border areas and provide adequate security at frontier villages.

Golay has since delivered on his pledges by deploying contingents of the Indian Reserve Battalion of the Sikkim police at border villages in North Sikkim and East Sikkim districts. The promptness in restoring the road link is also being seen as a proof of his commitment.

Sikkim shares a 220km-long border with China, the vast stretches of which are in North district.

As far as the weather goes, it doesn’t look too promising. With more rains predicted, the possibility of landslides increases. “Many places in North Sikkim have received heavy rainfall — even more than 90mm — in the past 24 hours. Heavy to very heavy rainfall, which is between 65mm and 200mm, is expected within the next 24 hours,” said Gopinath Raha, the director of Indian Meteorological Centre in Gangtok.