Siliguri, Aug 25: National Highway 55, the arterial road link between Siliguri and Darjeeling, was reopened for all vehicles after repairs last evening, a senior district official said today. The highway, also known as hill cart road was badly damaged at Paglajhora near Tindharia following a huge landslide on July 8. About 70 metres of the road had sunk by few feet and vehicles carrying goods were diverted on an alternate road till repairs were completed.
At present, trucks carrying goods and weighing upto three metric tonnes were being allowed to ply on the road, District Magistrate of Darjeeling H Mohon said. Gradually the weight limit would be extended to five metric tonnes, he said. The hill truck drivers had observed strike for two days recently demanding immediate repair of the road.
According to Mohon, the repair had taken sufficient time as it was a sinking zone and engineers had to take special repair measures based on the character of soil of the particular areas. Bureau Report