Overnight rain brings down NH 31A in a heap of slides

ANAND OBEROI
SILIGURI, 14 Sept: Last night’s heavy rains lashed through the reckless back-cutting works along National Highway 31A littering landslides which threw up serpentine traffic snarls throughout the Gangtok-Siliguri stretch. It took most commuters up to 10 hours to make the Gangtok to Siliguri journey today as the negotiated the slides in one-way files as GREF personnel worked to clear the debris.
The first slide, while moving from Sikkim to Siliguri was near Kirney between Rangpo and Melli where nearly 50 meters of the road where back cutting works have been carried out came down in a heap of debris and trees that had blocked the road completely last night.
A little further, and another section of road about 6 kms ahead, near Chitrey, had also given way just short of Lepcha Jhora Bridge. After negotiating the uneven and dangerous active slides here, the traffic jammed again near Teesta and then a few more slides along the Luku Bhir stretch.
Agitated commuters were obviously frustrated, many pointing out that this state of the road so close to the Durga Puja tourist season did not bode well for the tourism sector in the entire region.
Minor slides littered the highway from Teesta to Sevoke with substantial blocks at 29 Mile, another back cutting spot just before Lohapool, and then at two spots near Kalijhora.
With a slight drizzle throughout today, crossing and negotiating the roads posed a risk as all the slides were unstable and rocks and debris kept on falling even as vehicles passed.
Even ambulances were stuck, as were people who had trains or flights to catch because someone who left Gangtok at 10 a.m. reached Siliguri only by 6p.m. today.