Stuck with one road, Sikkim proposes link via Bhutan

The state Government made this proposal to the Union Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways (MORTH) and the Home Ministry at a recent meeting and is set to start a recee of the potential route via Bhutan in early September.

Sikkim, linked to the rest of the country with a tenuous, 5-metre wide NH 31-A, is almost running out of essential commodities due to the closure of its only link to the rest of India. The highway often remains closed to traffic either due to bandhs called by protestors of various groups or landslides. The most recent instance was the blockade imposed by the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) in July.

With no railhead or airport, the state’s infrastructure is heavily hemmed in by the 41-km NH 31A from Siliguri to Gangtok. Sikkim shares a sensitive international border with China, making connectivity a critical concern.

Govind Prasad Sharma, Secretary Roads and Principal Chief Engineer, Sikkim, said, “The idea is to create an alternative route starting from Sikkim’s eastern part near Rongli into Bhutan’s Pangola range — that separates Sikkim from Bhutan — and on to Phuentsholing before it re-enters Indian territory at Chalsa in the Dooars region. An aerial survey will be conducted for the route from the first week of September. Soon after, the route feasibility will be studied on foot, that is likely to take a month”.

Sharma said the proposal was put before MORTH Secretary Brahm Dutt when he visited the state last month. “The Secretary appreciated our view that the only solution to Sikkim’s accessibility problems lies in an alternative route. He suggested that we go ahead with a feasibility after which the ministry would approach the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to further take up the issue with Bhutan,” added Sharma.

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