The National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) has officially taken over the responsibility for repair and maintenance of a 52km stretch of NH10, considered the lifeline of Sikkim and Bengal's Kalimpong.

On December 26, the Bengal PWD (NH division X) handed it over to NHIDCL which functions under the Union ministry of road transport and highways.

The stretch which has been handed over is between the Coronation Bridge at Sevoke and Rangpo town on the Bengal-Sikkim border.

“The NH10 stretch has been officially handed over to NHIDCL. They (NHIDCL) will now carry out its maintenance,” said Balasubramanian. T, the Kalimpong district magistrate.

An official of the state PWD confirmed that the handover was formally done on December 26.

The highway, which ends at Gangtok, is the arterial highway that connects Sikkim, a state that sits on the India-China border. For quite some time, the Bengal part of the highway was with the state PWD.

However, as frequent landslides led to a halt in traffic movement along the road — it closed down several times during the current year — Sikkim and Darjeeling residents and tourism stakeholders wanted it to be handed over to an agency which could better maintain it.

Darjeeling MP Raju Bista met Union ministers of road transport and highway Nitin Gadkari many times on the issue.

Gadkari acted on it. Finally, the NHIDCL has been entrusted with the responsibility to maintain the highway stretch.

“Landslides and cave-ins in multiple locations were one of the key concerns for people travelling along the highway. The situation further worsened after last year's glacial lake outburst flood in Sikkim which wiped off stretches of the highway. This had intensified the demand,” said a former government official based in Kalimpong.

Sources in the Bengal PWD pointed out that they had sent proposals and estimates for permanent restoration and repair works to the Centre but funds were not sanctioned.

“A proposal for carrying out some permanent restoration and repairing work of the stretches of NH10 (between Sevoke and Rangpo) with an estimated cost of ₹400 crore was sent to the ministry early this year. But it was not approved,” said the source.

Those associated with the tourism industry in this region have welcomed the development. Due to recurring landslides which halted traffic, many tourists who were supposed to visit Sikkim and Kalimpong during the Durga Puja and Diwali holidays cancelled their trips, they pointed out.

“Most tourists do not want to travel amid uncertainty. Also, they don't want to spend time on detours. This year, several batches of tourists had to take detours to reach Kalimpong and Sikkim by travelling an extra 70km as NH10 was closed during their visit,” said Debasish Maitra, who runs a travel house in Siliguri.

“Now that a national agency like the NHIDCL has taken charge, we hope the condition of NH10 will improve and there will be fewer incidents of landslides and cave-ins,” he added.