MANGAN, 13 May: North Sikkim was the worst hit by the 18 September 2011 earthquake and in the district, it was Dzongu which took the severest blow. Among the infrastructure lost to the earthquake on the day was the Lingzya-Bey road in Upper Dzongu. The stretch had been ruthlessly devastated by the earthquake with even walking across the stretch being fraught with risks. Today, more than a year and a half since the earthquake, the Roads & Bridges Department, North district, opened this road for light vehicular traffic right up to Bey today. While this stretch had been opened in mid-Feb, it had not settled down properly, and kept acting up. The earthquake had triggered 15 troublespots on this stretch especially inconveniencing people from Bey, Sakyong and Pentong.
This was never an easy task to accomplish. Just as the terrain was difficult, the weather was hostile and the working conditions difficult. Even clearing away debris from the road was not easy and here was a challenge to cut out fresh alignments.
The Department managed somehow, paying road gangs extra wages.
The inclement weather of the recent weeks kept things difficult, but today, the JCV pushed through to Bey and is clearing its way through to Pentong, the last village reached by road in upper Dzongu.
