The Union ministry of road transport and highways has decided to hand over NH10’s 52km stretch in Bengal to the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) for maintenance and repairs.

As of now, the NH division of the Bengal public works department (PWD) takes care of the repairs of the 52km stretch of NH10, the principal road that connects Sikkim and Kalimpong district with the rest of the country.

Sikkim Lok Sabha member Indra Hang Subba said that he had met Union minister of road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi on Thursday and sought the transfer of NH10’s maintenance from sevoke to Rangpo to a central agency.

“I submitted a memorandum to him, seeking an urgent transfer of the stretch (from Rangpo to Sevoke) from the Bengal PWD to any central agency for its better maintenance and widening. The Union minister immediately directed officials of his ministry to facilitate the transfer of the stretch to the NHIDCL,” Subba said in a social media post.

According to the MP, officials have informed Gadkari that high-level meetings were already held and the NHIDCL will soon be assigned the task of repairing NH10’s Bengal section.

Subba said Gadkari had informed him that NH10 would be strengthened and re-aligned after the highway’s Bengal stretch was brought under the NHIDCL.

The highway had been extensively damaged by the flash flood on the Teesta in October last year.

“The situation has worsened because of recurring landslides and cave-ins during the ongoing monsoon. A central agency needs to repair and upgrade NH10 so that the highway remains operational throughout the year,” said a source in the Sikkim government.

Since Thursday, the Sevoke-Teesta Bazar stretch of around 35km has been shut to even emergency and government vehicles following a cave-in on NH10 at Birikdara.