Seven houses razed in Sikkim

GANGTOK, July 17: Landslides triggered by heavy rainfall damaged seven houses in two different places in the state today. While two houses were damaged at Mazi Gaon near Rangpo, five houses were damaged at Jitlang in Duga, police said. Vehicles remained stranded on national highway and the state highways in various parts of the state today following the landslides. Long queues of vehicles were seen on four state highways ~ Rangpo-Namchi, Melli-Namchi, Rangpo-Rorathang and Singtam-Ravangla ~ today. The national highway 31A that connects Rangpo to Gangtok was also no exception. "Vehicles are reaching Gangtok via Pakyong," said Mr Dhiraj Pradhan, a border roads organisation (BRO) officer from Rongli. "All the schools at Rhenok and Rongli were declared closed today following heavy rainfall and landslides," Mr Pradhan added. He said the GREF personnel are working on a war footing to clear the roads. Mr Akshay Sachdeva, DIG, range, hoped that the NH-31A would become operational within a day or two. Mr AK Yadav, a GREF official, said efforts are on to clear debris from NH-31A at 20 Mile. "Fifteen labourers have been employed to clear the road. They are working from morning to night to restore traffic on the highway," Mr Yadav, said.