Landslide debris cuts NH10 link for 18 hours -The rubble buried a truck parked off the highway, and damaged four houses

Pedestrians at 29th Mile on NH10 in Kalimpong on Thursday. Passang Yolmo

TT, 28 August 2020, Siliguri:  Road connectivity between Siliguri and Sikkim-Kalimpong was snapped for around 18 hours after a landslide on NH10 in the 29thMile area of Kalimpong, some 40km from here, in the wee hours of Thursday.

The debris from the hills buried a truck parked off the highway, and damaged four houses. Excavators worked throughout Thursday to remove the rubble and create room for vehicles to move in a single file by evening.

Kalimpong had experienced heavy downpour that might have triggered the slide, said sources.

“Because of the statewide lockdown, vehicles are few on Thursday. But as NH10 connects Sikkim and Kalimpong, we started restoration work,” said Krishna Gupta, a contractor who is assigned with the maintenance work of NH 10 by the state PWD (NH division).

Residents, who feared fresh debris could fall in the highway if it rained again, raised the demand for early completion of the Sevoke-Rangpo rail project and the widening of an alternative road to Sikkim via Kalimpong.

(Courtesy & source- The Telegraph- https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/landslide-debris-cuts-nh10-link-for-18-hours/cid/1790266)