The Union ministry of road transport and highways has transferred a 52.1-km stretch of NH10, the lifeline of Sikkim and Bengal's Kalimpong district, to the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) from the Bengal PWD for its development and maintenance.

The NHIDCL is a fully owned company of the ministry of road transport and highways.

A notification issued by the ministry on October 29 says that from now on, the NHIDCL will take care of the 52.10km stretch connecting Sevoke and Rangpo in north Bengal.

So far, the onus of the maintenance of the stretch was with the highway division of the Bengal PWD.

“It is a major development and will help the residents of Kalimpong, Darjeeling and Sikkim as well as tourists and others visiting the region. The NHIDCL will take care of this critical stretch and there will be a timely repair, maintenance and expansion of the highway,” said Raju Bista, the BJP MP of Darjeeling.

Since October last year, when the glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) occurred in Sikkim, the highway was badly affected by the swollen Teesta river.

The Teesta, raging because of the flash flood, swept away large stretches of the highway.

As a result, traffic came to a halt along this stretch of NH10, which is also used by the defence forces to reach Sikkim on the India-China border. The state PWD carried out repairs but the stretch was closed on several occasions in the next 12 months, because of fresh landslides or cave-ins.

Bista and Sikkim MPs flagged the issue before Union minister of road transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari, requesting him to hand over the stretch of the NH10 to the NHIDCL for better repair and maintenance.

“I have repeatedly met the Union minister (on this issue) and now his ministry has made the decision,” said Bista.

Those associated with the tourism industry in the region pointed out that frequent closure of NH10 because of landslides and cave-ins affected the sector. They noted that the number of tourists in Sikkim, Kalimpong and nearby areas had fallen this year.

“We welcome the decision and hope that the NHIDCL will carry out a comprehensive geological survey and use modern technologies to find out options as to how this crucial highway can be kept open all round the year. The Centre should also take the initiative to build an alternative highway to connect Sikkim and Kalimpong,” said Samrat Sanyal, the general secretary of the Himalayan Hospitality and Tourism Development Network.