Tourists as well as local people travelling to the Darjeeling hills are set to benefit as traffic on the Subash Ghisingh Marg, commonly called Rohini Road, will resume on Thursday following the completion of long-pending repairs.

The road, which had been damaged by a landslide, will reopen on New Year’s Day, significantly easing travel between the plains and the hills.

“The road, which has become a lifeline for tourists and regular commuters travelling to Darjeeling and Kurseong over the years, was severely damaged by landslides on October 4. Necessary repairs were carried out, and after inspecting the repaired stretches, it has been decided to reopen the road from Thursday,” said Anit Thapa, the chief executive of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA).

A 50-metre-long stretch of the road had caved in during the landslide. Since then, connectivity from Siliguri to Darjeeling, Kurseong, and nearby towns has been maintained through NH110 (formerly NH55), the Pankhabari Road, and the Mirik–Simana–Sukhiapokhri–Ghoom route.

Sources in the hill administration said only SUVs and two-wheelers would be permitted to ply on the repaired stretches for at least the next fortnight.

A decision on permitting heavy vehicles will be taken after further inspection. However, drivers of local shared cabs have appealed to the GTA to restrict the road exclusively to SUVs.

Mahabub Khan, secretary of the Terai Chalak Sangha, an association of shared taxi drivers in the plains, welcomed the reopening of Rohini Road. He said the decision would provide major relief to tourists and regular commuters during the current festive season.

“Considering the vulnerability of the repaired portions, we fear that the movement of heavy vehicles could damage the road again. We therefore appeal to the administration to allow only SUVs to operate on this route,” Khan said.

According to drivers’ associations, Rohini Road shortens the distance between Siliguri and Darjeeling by nearly 10km. Once fully operational, passenger fares in shared cabs between these two locations are expected to drop by at least ₹50, compared to the current fare of around ₹300 charged for travel via NH110, said sources.