Editorial: Seek Solutions Beyond Road Repairs

The monsoon has been weak by Sikkim’s standards thus far, its lashings, varying in intensity over parts of Sikkim, as over the rest of the country. And yet, even this subdued season of downpours, has been strong enough when the skies do open, to convert culverts into raging rapids and jhoras into torrents bringing down boulders, washing away bridges, sweeping away road formations and catching the concerned agencies wrong-footed yet again. The monsoon remains moody, but its impact on daily life in Sikkim remains consistent in its ability to impose disruptions. 
The fragility of Sikkim’s mountains, a condition further impaired by the September temblor, contributes to the instability of the roads and the precariousness of the houses here, but the most substantial role in the annual ritual of road-blocks is played by the continuing prioritizing of knee-jerk repairs over long-term solutions and the triumph of ignorance over science. Deploying bulldozers to clear out debris and depositing tonnes of stones and crores of rupees in erecting retaining walls are, at best, short-term measures for immediate relief. Unfortunately, these have been the only engineering skills applied to the annual assault of slush and debris that roads here come under. Much more refined science should have been applied to fortify Sikkim’s roads by now. The level of preparedness should have evolved into a multidisciplinary exercise by now. The problem is obviously not only in the intensity of the monsoons or the vehicular load on the roads. Worsening the situation is the degradation of the catchment areas, the weakening of the jhoras [through quarrying and encroachments, for example], the obvious seismic activity [which, it appears, no one bothers to keep track of or share information on despite the very recent scare], and, of course, the still only sketchily understood reasons behind load limits for different roads. Those responsible for the care of roads have to realize that roads can be tended properly only if all these aspects are factored in and the reasons behind at least the traditional trouble-spots understood better. Solutions will have to then be devised through interventions in all fields and not just by throwing more stones and more crores into repairs. Even the technology deployed for repairs appears to be as archaic, if not older, than the vintage of the roads themselves.
An alternate highway for Sikkim will be helpful, but one must keep in mind that even this alternative will snake through the same hills, and, will be managed by the same agencies, ergo, will be beset by the same problems and limitations. Repairs are necessary, but for the long run, customized solutions are required.