A road damaged in the recent landslide in the Darjeeling hills

Calcutta, July 15: State public works department minister Amar Chowdhury today said a Geological Survey of India report had raised serious concerns over the future of environmentally-fragile Kurseong.

Quoting the report, he said parts of Kurseong, lying in the “sinking zone,” might cease to exist after 75 years. Chowdhury, on his return from north Bengal, submitted his report to chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

Chowdhury learnt of the report while discussing the causes of the recent landslides near Mirik with teachers of North Bengal University’s geology department.

“I have asked for a copy of the report, where the existence of portions of Kurseong has been described as uncertain,” he said.

The minister said the government was aware of the “sinking zone,” including the areas along Hill Cart Road in Kurseong. He said experts had told the state government that the road was constructed over layers of deposits from an earthquake which had taken place 25,000 years ago, and not on rocks. The layer of rocks lies 25 metres below the present surface and it is not possible to construct another road at that level now, Chowdhury added.

Before submitting the report to the chief minister, the PWD minister told reporters that the state government had asked for Rs 6 crore from the Centre as “special fund” for restoration of parts of NH-55.

Chowdhury said the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council was not cooperating with the state government on several issues concerning Darjeeling’s development. Municipal affairs minister Asok Bhattacharya had levelled similar charges against the DGHC, led by Subhas Ghisingh of the Gorkha National Liberation Front.

Chowdhury said the DGHC was constructing a road below NH-55 between Rohini and Kurseong without discussing it with his department.

“This is uncalled for. The DGHC, PWD and Darjeeling Himalayan Railway officials should sit down and discuss the situation together. They need to work in tandem for restoration work,” Chowdhury said.

Many railway networks have been damaged, so the work needs to be co-ordinated, he said.

“Paglajhora is a landslide-prone area, and a 30-feet stretch of Debigunj and Kharibari has been damaged. There were landslides in a range of eight kilometres around Mirik,” he said.

The minister said Rs 80 lakh was immediately needed for temporary restoration of the state highway near Mirik and restoration of a bridge was essential at Rohini II. Immediate restoration would require Rs 2.5 crore and Rs 8 crore was needed to get this permanently restored, Chowdhury said.

Chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, will visit Mirik on his way to Darjeeling on July 19. Asok Bhattacharya and state civil defence minister Srikumar Mukherjee returned from north Bengal yesterday and discussed the situation with the chief minister. A compensation of Rs 20,000 was announced for families of each victim.

The municipal affairs minister said scores of families lost their homes in the landslides.