New Delhi, Aug 12: The Centre is considering a proposal from the Sikkim government to provide the state with an alternative to NH31A, which frequently witnesses blockades because of bandhs called by political parties in the adjacent Darjeeling district of Bengal.

“They have proposed several roads, but only the one through Chalsa, which skirts NH31A and reaches Sikkim by a BRO road, is a possibility,” said a home ministry source. Chalsa is a few kilometres from Malbazar on the way to the Dooars from Siliguri. The national highway connecting the Northeast with Bengal passes through Chalsa.

Sikkim has been at the receiving end of frequent shutdowns since 1986 when the GNLF launched a movement in Darjeeling — bandhs being an integral part of the agitation programme — to demand Gorkhaland.

The blockades prompted an individual from Sikkim to file a PIL in the Supreme Court in 2005. Last year, once again, the highway was blocked for several days after the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, which is now spearheading the Gorkhaland movement, called an indefinite bandh in the Darjeeling hills.

This time, the Sikkim government has sent a proposal that could circumvent the trouble. The new route is “under consideration”.

Sikkim, which survives on agro-food production and tourism, usually has only a week’s supply of essential commodities, including petroleum, at a given point of time. As a result, the national highway is a lifeline for the hill state.

“The Chalsa route can be used by Sikkim as well as by the army,” said the source.

A home ministry meeting today deliberated on the court case with reference to the road. Besides discussing the proposal of the separate route, officials prepared the government’s response for the case in the apex court.

The Morcha, too, is a respondent to the case. While the statehood problem is expected to have a solution only in the long-term, the Centre has felt that an alternative route is a viable solution. A detailed project report has not been prepared yet.