The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) has ordered the closure of all educational institutions in the Darjeeling hills until October 13 in view of the widespread disruption in road connectivity caused by Sunday’s landslides across the region.
Movement of heavy commercial vehicles along NH10 that connects Sikkim and Kalimpong with the rest of the country has been restricted on select weekdays for a month or until further orders.
Hill schools were scheduled to reopen after the Puja vacation on Wednesday.
Many boarding schools across the hills have students from Calcutta, Bihar, the Northeast, the rest of the country, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Thailand.
The GTA’s order states that due to heavy rainfall “…connectivity and mobility have been disrupted in the entire region …”
According to data provided by the GTA, more than 50 roads have been breached in the hills.
The hill body has ordered that “all educational institutions (Government, Government sponsored, Government aided, private, run by Missionaries etc) viz primary schools, secondary schools, SSKs, MSKs, Colleges (both general & technical) …. will reopen on 13th October, 2025 (Monday)”.
More than 5,000 outstation boarders study in hill schools.
A school head said that since the GTA’s order came at the fag end of the holidays, any boarder who arrived even during the extended closure period would be accommodated. “Also, we plan to hold classes on Saturdays to make up for the lost study time,” said an administrator of a hill school.
Connectivity to Darjeeling has been restored through Pankabari and NH110, and the route to Kalimpong is also open. Mirik can be reached through the circuitous route via Ghoom.
The National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) has imposed restrictions on the movement of heavy commercial vehicles on NH10 for a month starting from Tuesday.
The NHIDCL order states that the restriction is being imposed “due to safety concerns arising from the declaration of heavy rainfall along the National Highway-10 stretch...”
The movement has been restricted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays starting from “12 am midnight to 11.59 pm midnight” on the specified days.
Buses, however, have been kept out of the restrictions.
Sikkim chief minister Prem Singh Tamang (Golay) had earlier said that the closure of NH10 took a toll on the Himalayan state’s economy.
“As NH10 has closed down, traffic to Sikkim has been affected. It is also taking a toll on the state’s economy, and we are losing ₹100 crore every day as SGST (the state’s share of goods and services tax),” Golay had earlier said.