The bailey bridge over a stream at Rit Chu connecting Mangan with Chungthang in North District again collapsed on Saturday night following a landslide, a few days after it had been restored temporarily.

The bridge on the North Sikkim Highway has North District headquarters, Mangan, on one side and Chungthang on the other. Around 50 tourists from Bengal, Gujarat and Delhi are accommodated at hotels in Lachung and Lachen. They had gone to visit Yumthang valley and Gurudongmar lake in the North District and will return on Monday after sight-seeing.

Fifteen of the tourists are from different parts of Bengal. The tourists would be brought back to Gangtok through transhipment at Rit Chu on Monday.

"The bridge was washed away in a landslide triggered by a heavy rain around 8.30pm on Saturday. It had first crashed on May 17 following heavy rains. The BRO repaired it temporarily and the highway was opened for traffic on June 9," said Chungthang subdivisional police officer Mingyur Bhutia.

Rit Chu is around 70km from Gangtok.

A Border Roads Organisation official said it would take at least 10 days to repair the bridge. "We somehow managed to reopen the highway by placing the bailey bridge back over the stream. But it has again been washed away. It may take at least 10 days to restore the bridge," said the BRO officer.

The Meteorological Department in Gangtok informed that Rit Chu had received 32mm rainfall in the past 24 hours.

Text by Nirmal Mangar and Picture by Prabin Khaling