Restoration of road connectivity to North Sikkim underway, says BRO

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) on Saturday said it has mobilised huge manpower and machinery to restore road connectivity to North Sikkim.

At least six people have been killed as landslides and heavy rain impacted the Himalayan state severely, damaging properties and disrupting road connectivity, power and food supplies and mobile networks in several areas.

Multiple landslides at various stretches, including Dikchu-Sanklang-Toong, Mangan-Sanklang, Singtham-Rangrang and Rangrang-Toong, besides collapse of the vital Sanklang suspension bridge, resulted in the severing of connectivity to North Sikkim, leaving around 1,200-1,500 tourists stranded.

"The BRO under Project SWASTIK has swung into restoration efforts by mobilising huge manpower and machinery to restore connectivity to North Sikkim at the earliest," it said in a statement.

Heavy earth-moving equipment has been deployed on the Dikchu-Sanklang-Toong Road to restore connectivity, with 10 km of road already being cleared from the Toong side towards Sanklang, the BRO statement said.

The BRO has also deployed machinery to clear debris on Gangtok Road from the Naga side and restored connectivity between Naga and Lanthakhola.

Efforts are being made to restore connectivity to North Sikkim via recently constructed modular bridge at Toong, it said.