A Maruti van negotiates a treacherous stretch on the way to Rumtek. Picture by Prashant Pradhan

Gangtok, Aug. 27: The road to Rumtek, the nearest tourist and pilgrim spot from here, is hell and back. Come monsoons, the condition worsens so much that travelling to the picturesque town proves to be an extremely hazardous task.

Perhaps, Karmapa Orgyen Trinley Dorji, will have to experience a bumpy ride if he is ever allowed by the Centre to visit the Rumtek Monastery, seat of the the Buddhist Karma Kagyu sect.

The 20-km stretch to the monastery, dotted with huge potholes, has turned into a veritable hell thanks to the apathy of the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front government. In spite of the fact that the state minister for tourism, K. T. Gyaltsen, represents Rumtek in the Assembly, little has been done to improve the “poor condition of the road in the past few years save empty rhetoric in the run-up to the polls.”

The commuters’ misery begins once the vehicle, mostly Maruti vans ply in landslide prone Sikkim, gets off the NH 31A. With drivers refusing to ferry commuters, in spite of being lured with astronomical sums of rental charges, Rumtek in all practical purposes remain a road less travelled during monsoons. The drivers’ fear, is, however, not unfounded. A major part of the entire stretch is strewn with huge boulders, raising fear of a severe disaster.

To make matters worse, incessant torrential downpour causes slush and mudslips even as the vehicles snake its way uphill. With little or no repair work undertaken in this notorious stretch, Rumtek, a major tourist hotspot, thus remains virtually cut-off from the rest of the mountainous state during monsoons. In spite of the logistical problems, those tourists, who still manage to travel the arduous half-an-hour uphill journey to the monastery, live to describe a “nightmarish experience.”

The government apathy, though, is causing greater inconvenience to the area residents than the tourists. This is because the residents have little option but to travel to either Ranipul or Gangtok to buy essential commodities on a daily basis. Worse, a majority of them has to report for work at various nearby hill towns. Asked about the poor road condition, a senior official of the roads and bridges department, which is responsible for the upkeep of the entire stretch, said: “Restoration work has already begun and it will take a while before it can be completed.” Severe monsoons have also hampered the work. The officials insisted that the work is being monitored in view of repeated complaints.