Kolkata, Aug. 22. - With
the Pujas drawing near, many travel enthusiasts from the plains
are making plans for a trip to the Queen of hill stations,
but they aren`t perhaps aware that they are gong to miss a
very special tourist attraction - a toy train ride, thanks
t the precarious condition of roads.
Mr. Amar Choudhury, state PWD minister,
who went to inspect the Hill Cart Road which was affected
by the landslide in July, said that soon after the road was
repaired and opened to traffic, a major landslide hit Pagla
Jhora and Tindhariya on Hill Card road at July end.
A large portion the rail tracks is still
hanging following massive soil erosion, and restoration of
tracks would take quite some time, the minister said at Writer`s
Buildings today. He said the state government has already
decided to narrow the Hill Cart Road from 5.5 - 6 metres to
3.5 - 4 metres.
Landslides have been occurring on the edges
and not on the mountain slopes, hence a part of the road will
be barricaded for protection landslides. At present all vehicles
are stopped before Tindharia and the traffic is diverted through
Mangpoo or Mirik Road to Darjeeling.
The minister said Kurseong was the worst
hit area. No vehicles, including the light ones, are allowed
to pass through and one has to travel all the way to Mirik
or Mangpoo Road to reach Kurseong.
He said: `I have found that locals continuously
dig black soil, which also contributes to frequent landslides.`
The statesman had earlier reported that
a portion of the Hill Cart Road had become vulnerable to landslides
near Kurseong due to incessant flow of water from the famous
Pagla Jhora waterfalls. Mr. Chaudhury, at that time, sent
a proposal to the Union Ministry of road transport and highways
for reconstruction of this stretch with an improved drainage
system.
The estimated cost for construction of drainage
would be about Rs. 1.28 crore.
The ministry of road transport and highways
(MORTH) has sanction Rs. 1 crore for immediate restoration
of roads. A part of the road may be opened to light vehicles
after an executive engineer from MORTH carries out an inspection,
the minister said.
Courtesy
The Statesman |
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