Road to Lachung expected to open on Saturday

MANGAN, 07 Sept: The traffic to Lachung, which was blocked here at Khedum a few kilometers short of Lachung, is expected to resume, weather permitting, from Saturday onwards. Although the road had been opened for traffic yesterday following completion of the new road formation, fresh slides disrupted traffic again.
The road to Lachung has been blocked since 06 August when around 150 metres of the road formation was washed out by landslides caused by incessant rain.  The BRO and Army had since been engaged in restoration works.
This slide had also damaged the power supply line to Lachung and many vehicles have been stranded at Lachung. The only option for commuters was transshipment from right above the slide which took an hour.
It may be mentioned here that the traffic to Lachung was also blocked for two months last year after the 18 September earthquake when a huge slide washed away around 200 meters of road formation just about 50 meters ahead of this slide.
Meanwhile, the people of Lachung had placed a demand petition to the Chief Secretary during his visit to North Sikkim last month for an alternate route from the right bank of the river to bypass this slide.