Overnight rain flushes away North Sikkim Highway

District officials negotiate a stretch of what used to be a section of the North Sikkim Highway at Chiyandara near Singhik a few kms ahead of Mangan towards Chungthang.

WANGCHUK BHUTIA
MANGAN, 20 Sept: Heavy overnight rainfall has severely compromised the Mangan-Chungthang road connectivity with the stretch disrupted at several spots by landslides. As per data posted by the Meteorological Office Gangtok on its website, 196.6 mm rainfall was recorded in Mangan today. Interestingly, the Met Office’s forecast for Mangan had been 10 mm of rainfall.
The road is blocked at Singhik, a few kilometers out of Mangan towards Chungthang where the road formation has been washed out and a slide has also damaged a section at Chiyandara near Singhik.
The damage at Lanthey Khola further up is the most challenging with an 80 metre stretch of the road washed away by a massive slide. This will take at least 20 days to restore and repair for vehicular traffic and at present even transshipment is not possible for commuters.
The road is also blocked at Theng and the Toong-Shipgyer alternative is also blocked.
Mangan SDM, PW Lepcha, along with TO (Training Officer) and QRT (Quick respond Team) of Mangan EOC (Emergency Operation Center) Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority (SSDMA) under Land Revenue Department walked up to Lanthey Khola on an inspection today and to assess the condition.  The team could not proceed beyond Lanthey Khola due to the massive slide there.
The Border Roads Organisation managed to clear the Mangan-Pakshep road by afternoon today, only light vehicles can ply on it at present especially in light of the damage suffered by the North Sikkim Highway near Mangan Bazar at Rabong Khola.
Similarly, the Mangan-Dzongu road is also blocked near Sangakalang as is the Sangkalang-Ringdang road where two landslips are blocking the road.
The road to Upper Dzongu is also blocked at two places near Namprikdang.
While restoration works have begun, given the severity of some of the slides, no projections are being offered on by when the roads can be restored.