The National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) on Friday announced the closure of a 52km stretch of NH10 for another two days.

In the current month, this is the fourth notice announcing a complete halt in vehicular movement along the highway.

“In the last notice, NHIDCL had mentioned that a 30km-long stretch of the highway, that is, between Sevoke and Chitrey in Kalimpong, will remain closed till Friday evening because of repairs. But as fresh slides and cave-ins were reported in some other locations, there was an apprehension whether the stretch would reopen this evening,” said Samrat Sanyal, general secretary of the Himalayan Hospitality & Tourism Development Network.

Sanyal said in Friday’s notice, NHIDCL announced the closure of the same stretch till Sunday evening.

From Sevoke, NH10 runs along a stretch of 52km, parallel to the Teesta, till Rangpo. From there, it enters Sikkim.

“Vehicles bound for Siliguri from Sikkim and Kalimpong will continue to take alternative routes, which means more travel time and additional costs,” said Jayanta Majumdar, a transporter based in Siliguri.

New bridge in Sikkim

The Sikkim government on Friday opened a new bridge at Ritchu along the Mangan-Chungthang route in the northern parts of the mountainous state.

Sources said the Bailey bridge would be open only for light vehicles.

“It has been built over the Ritchu Nullah (stream) and has restored the connectivity between Mangan, the district headquarters, and Chungthang, the junction from where roads lead to tourist hotspots like Lachen and Lachung,” said a source.

The bridge, which has been built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), will have
restricted movement of vehicles as some ancillary works are yet to be completed, the source added.