Sikkim Chamber of Commerce seeks Gadkari’s urgent intervention over NH-10 crisis

<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b>GANGTOK,:</b><span style="font-family:&quot;Bookman Old Style&quot;,serif"> The Sikkim Chamber of Commerce (SCC) has urged Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari to take immediate steps for restoration and long-term upgradation of National Highway-10, describing the key road link to the Himalayan State as an “economic, social and strategic lifeline.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:&quot;Bookman Old Style&quot;,serif">In a memorandum submitted to Gadkari, the chamber sought urgent restoration of traffic on the 20th Mile (Bardang) stretch between Rangpo and Singtam, which, according to it, has remained closed to public traffic for nearly a month.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:&quot;Bookman Old Style&quot;,serif">The prolonged closure has caused severe hardship to residents and disrupted the movement of essential commodities, including food grains, fuel, LPG, medicines, construction materials, vegetables and milk, the chamber said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:&quot;Bookman Old Style&quot;,serif">Families have been separated for weeks, patients requiring specialised treatment in Siliguri have faced delays, while students and commuters have been forced to undertake difficult detours through vulnerable hill roads, it claimed.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:&quot;Bookman Old Style&quot;,serif">The SCC said repeated disruptions on the Siliguri-Gangtok corridor have affected tourism, trade, agriculture, horticulture and industrial activity in Sikkim, which is heavily dependent on the highway for connectivity with the rest of the country.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:&quot;Bookman Old Style&quot;,serif">According to the chamber, NH-10 has witnessed more than 100 major traffic disruptions and over 30 complete closures during the 2016-2026 period due to landslides, slope failures, subsidence, bridge damage, rockfalls, flash floods and monsoon-related erosion.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:&quot;Bookman Old Style&quot;,serif">It estimated that highway disruptions over the past decade have caused cumulative business losses of around Rs. 2,000-3,000 crore, affecting traders, transporters, manufacturers, retailers, farmers and hospitality operators.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:&quot;Bookman Old Style&quot;,serif">The chamber also flagged road safety concerns, claiming that several hundred accidents have occurred along the Siliguri-Gangtok corridor over the past decade, resulting in fatalities and injuries.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:&quot;Bookman Old Style&quot;,serif">Calling for a permanent engineering solution, the SCC sought comprehensive reconstruction and widening of vulnerable stretches, permanent slope stabilisation, and construction of tunnels, viaducts, bypasses and alternate alignments at chronically unstable locations.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:&quot;Bookman Old Style&quot;,serif">It also urged the Centre to declare NH-10 a “national priority strategic corridor” and complete all ongoing works within a time-bound schedule.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:&quot;Bookman Old Style&quot;,serif">The chamber proposed the constitution of a high-level technical task force comprising representatives of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, NHIDCL, BRO, Geological Survey of India and the Sikkim government to prepare a long-term resilience plan for the corridor.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:&quot;Bookman Old Style&quot;,serif">The SCC said the strategic importance of NH-10 goes beyond connectivity, as Sikkim shares international borders with China, Bhutan and Nepal and the highway is crucial for defence logistics, border infrastructure, disaster response and national security preparedness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:&quot;Bookman Old Style&quot;,serif">The chamber said the prolonged closure of the 20th Mile stretch has highlighted Sikkim's vulnerability arising from dependence on a single fragile road corridor and urged the Centre to treat the matter as one of “urgent national importance.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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