Kalimpong News - NH 31A People protests road bypassing

Kalimpong, Dec. 2: People living along the highway between 27th Mile and 29th Mile have protested a move to construct an alternative stretch bypassing the area as they fear it will deprive them of their source of livelihood.

The residents sustain a livelihood by running shops and eateries which are patronised by travellers on NH31A. Most of the vehicles plying between Siliguri and Sikkim or Kalimpong stop before these shops and hotels so that travellers can buy food and goods.

The Border Roads Organisation has been tasked to construct the 18km-long alignment from Reang to Ravi Jhora to skirt a stretch of NH31A that is prone to landslides.

The traders say once the alternative link is ready, many vehicles will avoid the present road and it will make a dent in their income.

Sagar Lama, the convener of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s highway block, said a campaign would be launched against the construction of the alternative stretch. “The majority of people in the hamlets along NH31A between 27th Mile and 29th Mile are dependent on the highway for income since there is no other source of employment for them. Their very livelihood is at stake,” he said.

Earlier, the people of Lohapool and Suntaley, too, had cited the same reason to protest the move to build a viaduct for NH31A, Sikkim’s only road link with the rest of the country. The viaduct has been planned as the highway is narrow and prone to cave-ins from Lohapool and Suntaley. The villagers’ grouse was that their business was bound to suffer as not many vehicles would halt before their shops if the viaduct became a reality.

The protest has failed to yield any result, as the plan for the 490 metre-long viaduct has not been shelved. Kalimpong MLA Harka Bahadur Chhetri wrote to the BRO to drop the plans to build the viaduct and the alternative stretch.

The BRO, however, said it could not take a call. “The Union ministry of road transport and highways has asked us to carry out the work to improve NH31A. Only the ministry can take a decision on the issue raised by the people of the highway villages. We have told the MLA to take up the matter with the ministry,” said a BRO official.

He said the mandatory clearance of the Union ministry of forest and environment for the new alignment between Reang and Ravi Jhora had been received. The alternative stretch is on a higher and stable gradient than the existing road.
TT