A temporary bridge over the Teesta in northern Sikkim was on Monday washed away by the river swollen by heavy rain, prompting the administration to realign routes for traffic in the area.

When a flash flood had occurred in the Teesta because of the outburst of the South Lhonak lake in October last year, the bridge over the river at Toong in the Mangan district of the mountain state was washed away.

After the natural disaster, local transporters took the initiative to build a temporary wooden bridge over the river to facilitate travel between Mangan, the district headquarters and Chungthang, which is at the junction of popular tourist hotspots of Lachen and Lachung.

“The wooden bridge has been damaged and cannot be repaired. So, vehicles will have to take the Sangkalang- Shipgyer route, instead of the Chungthang-Mangan road,” said a source in the administration.

A circular mentioning the diversion of the route was issued by the Mangan district collector on Tuesday.

“As the route is narrow, there will be one-way traffic between Chungthang and Sangkalang from morning till evening. The vehicles on emergency duty, however, will not face any restriction,” the source added.

Vehicles heading to Sangkalang (on the way to Mangan) from Chungthang will be allowed to move from 5am to 8.30am and again from 2.30pm to 3.30pm.

On the other hand, vehicles heading towards Chungthang from Sangkalang will move along the route from 10am to 1pm and from 4pm to 6.30pm, said sources.

In Mangan, officials of the district administration held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss compensation for the land needed for a road connecting Mangan and Lachen via Toong. The road was extensively damaged in last year’s flash flood and the project will be undertaken by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and the General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) under the defence ministry.

Representatives of the BRO said those who had provided land for the project would get compensation while underscoring that they should extend cooperation for the project.