Rights body calls for crisis management, action on Teesta disaster
The Statesman | 5 July 2024
The Gorkha Gaurav Sansthan, a Kalimpong-based group, associated with the Save Teesta movement, has sent correspondence to multiple government officials, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah.
These letters address the Teesta disaster and its impact on the public, highlighting issues such as basic needs, public grievances, and crisis management.
The recipients of these letters also include West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor Dr CV Ananda Bose, as well as ministers for roads and highways, housing and urban affairs, power and jal shakti.
The chairman of Brahmaputra Board and home and hill affairs secretary of West Bengal are also among the recipients.
Solutions for these problems are proposed in the letters.
“In the upcoming days, we will be dispatching the second and third stages of communication to the appropriate ministries and departments,” chief coordinator of Save Teesta Movement, Narendra Kumar Tamang said, adding, “We are confident that the victims of the Teesta disaster and those living along national highway 10 will receive fair treatment. Furthermore, we assure that measures for restoration, protection, conservation and management of both NH-10 and Teesta river will be implemented.”
Today, people of Teesta Bazaar marked a significant shut down in honour of those who lost their lives in the flash flood on the Teesta river on October 4, 2023.
Meanwhile, the condition of national highway 10 remains unchanged due to erosion and landslides occurring on the right bank of the Teesta. As a result, all traffic has been halted for the past three days. While repairs have begun, it is unclear when normal traffic flow will resume on NH-10, which connects Kalimpong and Sikkim to Siliguri and back.
According to official sources, road conditions in Kalimpong district as on 4 July are as follows: National highway 10 is currently closed from Seti Jhora to Chitray due to ongoing hill cutting at Selfi Point (19th Mile). The route from Ravi Jhora to Teesta Bazar is closed due to repair work and waterlogging. The road from Kalimpong to Siliguri via Panbu is open. The route from Rangpo to Lava via Mansong is open. The road from Kalimpong to Siliguri via Lava is open. National Highway 717A is temporarily closed due to landslides.
The minister for road and bridges, Nar Bahadur Dahal, from the Sikkim government conducted a visit to the vulnerable areas of NH-10 at Melli Bazaar, which is situated on the banks of Teesta. He also met with officials in a high-level meeting to discuss repairing the damaged portions of the road by a set deadline of 15 July.