Landslides at multiple locations and the cave-in of a 100m-long stretch of NH10 triggered by heavy rain in Kalimpong district on Sunday halted traffic on the principal highway that connects Sikkim with the rest of the country.

The Bengal public works department (PWD) has asked transporters and daily commuters to take alternative routes to reach Siliguri from Kalimpong and Sikkim and vice versa.

An official of the PWD said the earth under a 100m-long stretch of NH10 had eroded at View Point, which is between Swetijhora and Birikdara in Kalimpong district.

“A major portion of the road has slid into the Teesta. It is risky to travel along the stretch and people should take alternative routes,” he said.

Added to the cave-in, around 10 major and minor landslides have occurred along the highway between the Coronation Bridge at Sevoke and Rangpo, a Sikkim town near the Bengal border.

Officials of the PWD and the Kalimpong district administration visited the affected spots. It has been decided to cut down a portion of the mountainside at View Point to widen the highway so that at least light vehicles and ambulances can travel.

When NH10 closes down, the most common route to Sikkim and Kalimpong from Siliguri is via Gorubathan and Lava. “Anybody taking this route has to travel 70km extra. This means one has to spend more money on fuel and take more time also,” said a transporter based in Siliguri.

While traffic was halted on NH10, the road between Kalimpong and Darjeeling via Teesta Bazar and Peshok was restored on Sunday.

“The road had been closed since June 13 after the swollen Teesta had left piles of debris on it,” said an official.

The recurring halt in traffic on NH10, particularly after the flash flood on the Teesta in October last year, left the stakeholders of the tourism industry worried.

“Landslides block the highway regularly. In the current season, many tourists have cancelled their trips to Sikkim and Kalimpong because of the highway closure. We are apprehensive of losing business during the upcoming festive season if the state and the Centre don’t find a permanent solution,” said Samrat Sanyal, the general secretary of the Eastern Himalaya Travel & Tour Operators’ Association.

The downpour has also triggered landslides along NH55, the highway that
connects Darjeeling, and snapped the drinking water supply in the hill town of
Kurseong.

A landslide-hit stretch of NH10 at Likhuvir in Kalimpong district on Saturday. Picture by Passang Yolmo

Subhash Pradhan, the vice-chairman of the board of administrators at the Kurseong municipality, said a landslide had occurred along NH55 between Kharey Khola and St. Mary’s near Kurseong town on Saturday night, damaging the pipeline of the public health engineering (PHE) department.

“We have visited the spot and it seems that it will take at least three days to restore the water supply,” said Pradhan