Gangtok, Oct 9: A fresh landslide at 20th Mile on NH10 connecting Sikkim’s capital Gangtok has disrupted vehicular movement on Sunday morning.
A slide had earlier occured at 19th-20th Mile near Singtam along the NH10 on Saturday afternoon, which was restored and made motorable to some extent the same night. However, the highway was again disrupted early Sunday morning due to a huge landslide at Nimtar, not very far from Ranipool.
NHIDCL has pressed its manpower and machines to clear the landslide at Nimtar and is expected to make the road open in the next few hours. The slide at Nimtar is huge and occurred around 5.30 AM on Sunday.
Meanwhile, regular slides are still being reported from the troublesome 20th Mile stretch following incessant rains causing road blockade.
The landslide hit the traffic movement badly, leaving hundreds of tourists and goods-laden vehicles stranded on the highway for more than 3 hours.
The two affected roads are National Highway-10 and the 20th mile near Rangpo which connects Sikkim to the Siliguri corridor. The most affected stretch of the 20th mile was earlier repaired but got damaged again, according to officials.
Furthermore, due to heavy downpours, roads in other parts of Sikkim have also been damaged. Now vehicles are being diverted through either from Rangpo via Roarthang to Gangtok or Rangpo via Duga which is a long route.
