Landslide at Tarkhola cuts off Sikkim

SLIDE BLOCKS HIGHWAY AT 11 PM MONDAY NIGHT, CLEARED FOR ONE-WAY TRAFFIC AT 4 P.M. TUESDAY
GANGTOK, 17 July: Sikkim was cut off from the rest of the country for most of the day today following landslides on NH 31A at 10th Mile, Tarkhola in West Bengal beyond Rangpo towards Melli after heavy rains continued through the weekend.
Official sources from the Rangpo Police Station inform that hundreds of vehicles, mostly trucks and transport utility vehicles carrying supplies and essential commodities, were lined up on either side of the landslide that occurred at around 11PM last night. It is further informed that smaller passenger vehicles including taxis are plying the Rangpo- Monsoong-Kalimpong and Chitrey route to get to Siliguri. (The alternative route takes around 2 hours or more and is unfit for big vehicles to ply). The slide was eventually cleared at around 4 p.m. for one-way regulated traffic.
SNT trucks and buses that left for Siliguri this morning from Gangtok are informed to have returned back with the passengers opting to travel to Siliguri in smaller vehicles via the alternative route from Rangpo. Many passengers who went to the SNT bus stand this morning had to come down to the private bus stand since SNT did not send any more buses to Siliguri today. Passengers could be seen waiting for vehicles to get them to Siliguri through the alternative route at the Siliguri stand in Deorali today with many taxis staying off the road because of the glitches along the highway.  
Work gangs of the Border Road Organisation (BRO) were hard at work trying to clear the debris and eventually cleared it for one-way traffic at around 4 p.m. The fact that it did not rain the entire day helped in the road clearing works.