The Hindu Business Line : Study to mull alternative highway for Sikkim

Gangtok, Aug. 28 Central officials and their colleagues from the State are slated to make a study of a potential alternative highway for the State through Bhutan this September. The State is now wholly dependent on the NH 31A as its lifeline to other parts of the country.

The Sikkim Chief Minister, Mr Pawan Chamling, had earlier made a proposal for the trans-nation alternative highway to the Union Ministry of Transport to ease the transport problems of landlocked Sikkim from its sole dependability on the its lifeline NH 31 A.

The proposal focussed on an alternative highway either through Nepal or Bhutan bypassing the trouble-prone Darjeeling hills. The Centre found the Bhutan route feasible through eastern Sikkim.

The State Government has confirmed that various alternative routes were being studied and that the West Bengal Government’s concurrence had also been sought to ensure that Sikkim’s essential supplies were not affected by political protests or landslides.

new route

The proposal tentatively sees a new route from Gangtok to Chalsa in West Bengal via Bhutan, and is expected to be around 90-km-long. Of this, around 40 km will fall within Bhutan.

While the Centre had recently given the go-ahead for an 80-km alternative highway parallel to NH 31A, connecting Sevoke to Ranipool along the opposite side of the Teesta, the recent closure of the highway due to political disturbances in Darjeeling made both the Sikkim Government and the Centre realise that this new highway alone would not help as the NH31-A was held hostage by the Darjeeling problem.

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