One of the SNT buses on Teesta Bridge, 15km from Kalimpong, en route to Siliguri on Wednesday. Picture by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha

Gangtok, Feb. 9: Ten Sikkim Nationalised Transport buses left for Siliguri at noon in a convoy under Bengal police escort while all other vehicles were kept away from NH31A on the first day of the indefinite strike called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.

Over 1,000 vehicles, including trucks, ply the highway on an average a day. But today, traffic was limited to only 10 SNT buses on NH31A, the only road connecting Sikkim with the rest of the country.

“Our buses are already at Rangpo (border town) and they will go to Siliguri escorted by Bengal police. But we don’t know what is waiting for them along the highway. The buses are supposed to reach Siliguri at 4pm and only then can we say if more buses can be operated,” said an SNT official earlier in the day.

The buses reached Siliguri around 3.30pm and they did not face any disruptions along the route.

A huge crowd had assembled at the SNT terminus in Gangtok this morning. Tourists and those who had urgent work outside Sikkim were among the passengers.

Yesterday evening, a Sikkim-registered fuel tanker going to Siliguri had been set on fire by a mob at Tarkhola, 10km from Rangpo. The arson sent shivers up and down drivers’ spine and most of them did not dare to take vehicles to Bengal today.

“Some taxis which tried to go to Bengal were forced to return to Sikkim by the picketers. But the protesters allowed SNT buses to travel to Siliguri,” said R.K. Sundas, the Rangpo subdivisional police officer. He added that CRPF personnel have been deployed along the highway in Bengal.

The Deorali private taxi and bus stand ticket counter was closed this morning. Normally 250 taxis operate daily between Gangtok and Siliguri.

“Nobody is taking any chance as the situation is tense in Bengal. Emotions are running high among the people in the Darjeeling hills. Yesterday also, drivers had to travel in fear along the highway. Even the commuters are aware of the situation and are not daring to travel today,” said a ticket counter employee.

There were many tourists who could not avail themselves of the SNT services. They have decided to extend their stay for another day.

“We had to cancel our air tickets from Bagdogra today. We were supposed to reach Delhi today. Now, we have no option but to extend our stay. Even helicopters service is fully booked till February 13. Let us see what will happen tomorrow,” said Atul Jain. He had come with ten family members for a three-day tour of Sikkim.

When the authorities in Siliguri came to know that the SNT buses had crossed half the way safely, 14 trucks carrying essentials and three oil tankers left for Sikkim. Five other SNT buses with around 40 passengers each also started for Sikkim.