Movement of all heavy vehicles on NH10 has been stopped till Monday 10pm after a section of the highway caved in at the 29th Mile near Teesta Bazar on Saturday morning.

A landslide following heavy rain caused the cave-in.

“An order was issued on Saturday night to restrict the movement of all heavy vehicles near Teesta Bazar. The ban has been enforced considering people’s safety,” an official of the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), which looks after the highway’s upkeep, said.

Repair work is on at the cave-in site.

“Currently only SUVs and cars are allowed to cross the stretches of NH10 at 29th Mile area as almost 75 per cent of the road bench caved-in around 8.30am on Saturday,” a source in the district administration said.

“As the stretches of the highway have became narrow and vulnerable, only small vehicles are allowed to cross the portion of the road through one-way movement,” a source said.

The highway officially opened on Friday after six days of closure because of cave-ins. However, fresh damage occurred within 24 hours.

Heavy vehicles are now taking a detouring through Lava-Algarah-Gorubathan and Sevoke route as an alternative.

Rain forecast

The India Meteorological Department has predicted heavy to very heavy rain in Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts in north Bengal till Tuesday.

“There is similar forecast of downpour for Gangtok, Namchi and Pakyong districts of Sikkim in the next 48 hours,” the source in the IMD said.