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.

Sikkim Additional Secretary T T Dorjee confirmed that various alternative routes were being studied and the West Bengal Government’s concurrence was also being sought to ensure that the state’s essential supplies are not affected by protests or landslides. The tentative length of the new road from Gangtok to Chalsa in West Bengal, via Bhutan, is expected to be around 90 km. Of this around 40 km will fall in Bhutan.

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.

The state had been toying with Nepal and Bhutan as options for the alternative route, before finally deciding on Bhutan. The Nepal route, say officials, would be too long and complicated as western Sikkim would then have to be connected to east Nepal. Moreover, the security situation in Nepal was not found ideal for such a move.

While MORTH had recently given its go-ahead to an 80-km alternative highway parallel to NH 31A, connecting Sevoke to Ranipul along the other side of the Teesta river, the recent closure of the highway by GNLF protestors made the Sikkim Government and the Centre realise that this new highway alone would not help as NH31A was held hostage in Darjeeling itself. Marathon meetings followed, with proposals ranging from prosecution of protestors to alternative routes.

MORTH and the Home Ministry confirmed that there was a move for an alternative route to Sikkim. “A proposal for routing this access through Bhutan or Nepal and into Bangladesh was considered at a meeting. While no final decision was taken at our end, it is understood that Sikkim does need an alternative to NH 31A,” said R R Jha, MHA’s Director Border Management.