Yuldrisum Yargey wants Toong-Chungthang road tunneled

GANGTOK, 25 Sep: The Yuldrisum Yargey Association, a social organization comprising of people from Lachen, Lachung, Chungthang and other surrounding areas of North Sikkim, has decided to submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister during his Sikkim visit scheduled for Tuesday proposing that the Centre “permanently” solve the problem of unreliable road connectivity to North Sikkim due to landslides. A week since the 18 September earthquake, roads beyond Toong [16 kms short of Chungthang] remain closed due to landslides triggered by the quake.
The Yuldrisum Yargey believes that the connectivity problem will be solved to a large extent if the road from Toong to Chungthang is tunneled.
“The proposal to carry out the same has been submitted to the government and we request the CM to expedite the matter and pursue it with the Centre as this is in the best interest of the people of Sikkim,” informed Thukchuk Lachungpa, spokesperson for the association while addressing the media today.
Mr. Lachungpa highlights that if the Centre sanctions the project in time, the logistic challenges will be mitigated to a large extent since the tunnel digging equipment with the Teesta Urja [for Stage-III] are still in the region and can be redeployed for the new project.

“Coincidentally, Teesta Urja also has the expertise along with the machinery. Time is of essence because since the tunneling work for the hydel project has been completed, the equipment, we have heard, will be moved out of Sikkim soon,” Mr. Lachungpa said.
It was also informed today that the proposal for the tunneling works had already been “side-lined” by the BRO which is in-charge of the North Sikkim Highway. In this regard the spokesperson said, “We have seen what the BRO is going through at present with the manpower and equipment that they have. With no deadline projected for the reopening of the highway, similar situations could be averted if the tunnel project was cleared,” he said.
Here, he also mentioned that keeping in mind the works of the BRO related to tunneling works and the major example being the new tunnel at 20 Mile, the Yuldrisum Yargey appeals that the works is outsourced to tunnel making experts.
The Yuldrisum Yargey has also questioned the highway side-cutting works being carried out by the BRO in the area, which according to the members of the association is also one of the major causes of the severity of the landslides in North Sikkim since the BRO is dumping all the excavated debris down the hill sides.
Keeping in mind the situation in North Sikkim, the Yuldrisum Yargey has also constituted a team of media persons and other social organizations to reach Lachung, Lachen and Chungthang starting tomorrow.
The members of the association have also appealed to the people not to pay heed to romours being circulated through SMSes and over the internet. Further, an appeal has also been made to all organizations, political and apolitical, that everyone should work together for the larger challenge of rebuilding facing Sikkim and refrain from extracting political or personal mileage out of the tragedy.