Key Darjeeling link closed after landslides

DARJEELING: Incessant rain throughout the night damaged a major portion of National Highway-55 in Kurseong sub-division — Gairi Gaon, Tindharia— on Thursday.
There was a 35m landslide in the upper hill and a 40m landslide downhill, cutting off the arterial road link.
On Thursday, Kurseong recorded 63.2mm of rainfall. The NH-55 assistant engineer Dinesh Bardewa said, “The landslide was caused due to high intensity rainfall on Thursday night.Two stretches of NH-55 have been badly damaged in Tindharia.” All heavy and mainline traffic has been diverted to the Rohini and Mirik routes from Siliguri to other parts of the Hills.
“There is no alternative route for the movement of heavy traffic on the main line because of the severity of the damage to the road,” the assistant engineer said. Locals, though, have the option of taking the short-cut from Bypass to reach Chunbatti, from where they can avail vehicles for Kurseong town around 20km away. Bardewa said it would be an uphill task to repair and restore the road. “Preliminary estimates show it will take a minimum of two months to repair the damaged road,” he said.
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) tracks, too, have been affected. “No major damage other than fallen boulders and debris has affected the tracks due to collapse of the highway,” said DHR director Arvind Mishra.