MLA initiates community-powered restoration of Penlong-Lingdok road WANGCHUK BHUTIA

DIKCHU, 10 July: The 3km direct road from Penlong (Navey Thasha Dara) to 7th Mile Lingdok, part of the old mule track from Penlong to Dikchu, is in the process of being reclaimed and opened for traffic after having remained blocked and unused for more two decades. This, thanks to an initiative by the area MLA [Kabi-Longstok], Ugen Nedup Bhutia, who has put together a community-powered effort to restore the road on private initiative.
The restoration work started from the Lingdok side at around 1 PM today with the offering of prayers by monks and pundits. The launch, a press communiqué from the MLA informs, was attended bythe area panchayats and public along with the MLA. The restoration/ reopening of this 3 km stretch is projected to take a month’s time.
The MLA states in a press release that “the restoration work has been possible due to the whole-hearted community participation apart from generous approach and service rendered by the Department of Roads & Bridges (Sikkim Government) and Sneha Kinetic Power Project Ltd.”
The initiative is currently without any governmental funding and includes some finance contributed by the people and a significant contribution by Sneha Kinetic Power Project Ltd [developing the Dikchu hydel project in the area] which is deployed an excavator machine for the effort on the request of the MLA and the public.
On the first day today, around 800 metres of the road was cleared. When completed, this road will save 50 to 55 minutes of travel time on the Gangtok-Lingdok journey, the local people pointed out, adding that after completing this stretch, they will start work on reopening the Dikchu-Lingdok road.
It may be recalled that the restoration of the road from Penlong to Dikchu been on the wishlist of the people of the area for a long while now.
The MLA informs they have also approached the Public Works Department for help and will also be requesting others department like Irrigation, Forest, Land Revenue etc. for assistance.
This road [Penlong to Dikchu] had been ravaged by the disastrous monsoon of 1962 and more portions were lost in the landslides of the 1970’s. The Lingdok-Penlong stretch had however been restored but had been damaged again in the early 1990s and has not been restored since. Commuters now travel up to the Pangthang road and then drive down to Lingdok or Penlong as required.