The Mamata Banerjee government is likely to face an uphill task to repair the roads and bridges damaged by heavy rain in four north Bengal districts — Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri — on Saturday night.

The incessant rain left a heavy impact on 65 roads and 14 bridges on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday and they need urgent restoration work to ensure traffic movement.

According to a preliminary report drawn up by the state public works department, a total of57km 57.41km of road stretches in these four districts have either been washed away by floods or severely damaged by landslides.

“The damage is so grave that immediate restoration work needs to be taken up to ensure smooth traffic movement… Given the ongoing tourist season in the hills, the work has to be completed immediately. As many of the areas became unreachable because of the calamity, it is really tough to complete the restoration work within a short time,” said a senior state government official.

According to the preliminary report, Darjeeling was the most affected district, where 20 roads have been damaged.

The damaged roads include one from Ghoom Bhanjyang to Bijanbari BDO office, the Ghoom-Simana road, the Peshoke road, the Lebong road, the road to Richmond Hill, the Sukhiyapokhri-Manebhanjan road, the Maneybhanjang-Sandkphu road and the Bagora-Kalijhora road.

“All these roads are very important in terms of tourist attractions. Moreover, these roads are important in the hills in terms of the transportation network. So, these need immediate repairs. The problem is that some of the areas where the damage occurred have become inaccessible following the heavy rain,” said another official.

A source said that the PWD estimated that a sum of ₹8.09 crore would be required to undertake temporary restoration work on all the damaged stretches in
Darjeeling district.

“The funds would not be a problem as the state government can shoulder the burden as a part of emergency expenditure, but it would not be easy to carry construction materials to these areas within a short time,” said the source.

In Kalimpong district, five major roads were damaged. The damaged roads include the Teesta Valley road, the Lower Rishi road, the Rellie-Deorali road and NH717(A) (Pedong Bazaar to Lingsey).

“Although the number of damaged roads is comparatively less in Kalimpong, these are very important in terms of road connectivity. Given the sensitive nature of the area because of its proximity to China, these roads need to be repaired quickly. A sum of ₹2.18 crore will be required to repair the damaged stretches,” said an official.

In addition to Darjeeling and Kalimpong, roads and bridges were severely damaged in Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri. In Cooch Behar alone, 38 roads were damaged. A sum of ₹2.01 crore would be required to undertake temporary restoration work.

Similarly, in Jalpaiguri, in addition to damage on some roads, 10 bridges were severely affected because of heavy rainfall on Saturday night.

“All these bridges are located on NH31, NH31A and AH48. A total of ₹7.30 crore would be required to repair the damaged stretches temporarily. It is expected that the centre would provide the required funds to repair the bridges on national highways,” said a
PWD official.