The bridge of the Teesta barrage at Gajoldoba in Jalpaiguri district, which was closed to traffic for the past few months, will be reopened by the end of this month, ahead of the stipulated time.
Shama Parveen, the district magistrate of Jalpaiguri, said on Wednesday that as the state irrigation department had almost finished the repairs on the bridge, it had been decided to reopen it to traffic.
“The repairs will end soon, and over the next few days. Then, some technical examinations will be carried out to check the status of the bridge. Once these formalities are complete, the bridge will be opened for traffic. We hope vehicles will be able to move on the bridge by the end of this month,” she said.
On April 27, traffic was stalled on the bridge, which was built in the 1980s. The state irrigation department had said that it would take around 140 days to complete the repairs.
“This means the bridge was supposed to reopen in the third week of September. It is great to hear that the bridge will reopen much ahead as the Gajoldoba route is a major route for tourists as well as local people to travel from Siliguri and Jalpaiguri to the Dooars and vice versa,” said Dibyendu Deb, president of the Dooars Tourism
Development Welfare Association.
He said since April end, thousands of tourists and local people had to take alternative routes via Sevoke or Domohoni in Mainaguri to reach Lataguri and adjoining areas.
“The festive season will commence in the third week of September. We are keeping fingers crossed as the bridge was supposed to open at that time. That the bridge will reopen ahead of the stipulated time is indeed a major development for the tourism industry of western Dooars,” Deb added.
After the glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) in the Teesta in October 2023, the state irrigation department had surveyed the downstream and inspected the barrage and the bridge.
Last year, chief secretary Manoj Pant also visited the bridge and the barrage.
In due course, it was decided that the bridge needed extensive repairs, and accordingly, the irrigation department initiated the tender process for the work.
“We had told the agency concerned to finish the work within a specific time frame. It is good that they could deliver their responsibility. It is an important bridge, and so far as movement of heavy vehicles along the bridge is concerned, the district administration, the police, and our engineers will take the necessary decision,” state irrigation minister Manas Bhunia said over the phone.
Sources said as vehicles had stopped moving on the bridge, those who run shops and other facilities at Gajoldoba (located around 25km from Siliguri) — the same site where the state government developed “Bhorer Alo,” a mega tourism hub — were facing losses because of the less inflow of people.
“It has come as a major relief for us that the bridge will be reopened almost a month ahead of Durga Puja,” said Ramesh Roy, who runs an eatery in Gajoldoba.