RANGPO, August 20: The National Highway 31-A was opened for all the vehicles from today.
The Highway was closed for almost three days following the road damage at Chitrey, 22 km from here. Only light vehicles were plying from time to time till today.
The worst affected were the people from Sikkim, where even the essential grocery items could not be transported in time. Even the passengers had to face a lot of transhipment as they had to walk more than 2 kms from the damaged route, primarily because of rains and traffic jam. Both the passengers and the shopkeepers had to pay more fare to reach their destination.
Stressing that they are compelled to ply the route despite the delay caused by the blockage, the drivers have blamed that the concerned authorities for the slow pace of work.
Sources inform that it was total negligence on the part of GREF not to hasten the road repairs, which was damaged in the mid of July. It is also known that except for “serious works” done for two days, only two to four labourers were engaged by the GREF for the repair works.
“If the works were done in time, the road would not be damaged and the passenger would not have faced difficulties,” a passenger plying from Gangtok to Siliguri said.
The Highway was closed for almost three days following the road damage at Chitrey, 22 km from here. Only light vehicles were plying from time to time till today.
The worst affected were the people from Sikkim, where even the essential grocery items could not be transported in time. Even the passengers had to face a lot of transhipment as they had to walk more than 2 kms from the damaged route, primarily because of rains and traffic jam. Both the passengers and the shopkeepers had to pay more fare to reach their destination.
Stressing that they are compelled to ply the route despite the delay caused by the blockage, the drivers have blamed that the concerned authorities for the slow pace of work.
Sources inform that it was total negligence on the part of GREF not to hasten the road repairs, which was damaged in the mid of July. It is also known that except for “serious works” done for two days, only two to four labourers were engaged by the GREF for the repair works.
“If the works were done in time, the road would not be damaged and the passenger would not have faced difficulties,” a passenger plying from Gangtok to Siliguri said.
