The Central government has sanctioned ₹ 1,175 crore to build a six-lane bridge across the River Teesta in West Bengal’s Darjeeling district, which is expected to strengthen connectivity between the Siliguri corridor in north Bengal, Sikkim and the Northeast.
The tender, however, was cancelled. The stretch via Coronation Bridge is long, landslide-prone and accident-prone. There are heavy traffic snarls too.
Officials aware of the developments said that the Centre had earlier sanctioned ₹ 844 crore to construct a bridge and a tender was also floated. Officials said that vehicles plying between Siliguri and Sikkim via National Highway 717A and between Siliguri and the Northeast via National Highway 10 currently use the Coronation Bridge.
“In West Bengal, we have approved ₹ 1,175.59 crore for the construction of a 6.91-km-long, 6-lane major bridge with approaches across the River Teesta at Sevoke on NH-10 (Old NH-31) in Darjeeling district,” Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari wrote on X.
But the proposal was shelved. “A meeting was also held at Bagdogra Airport between me, the then state urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya and the then union road transport and highways minister TR Balu.
“The construction of the alternative bridge will go a long way to improve connectivity in the region and thus will help in the socio-economic development of the region,” said Raju Bista, the Lok Sabha MP from Darjeeling. Officials said that a second bridge was proposed at Sevoke in the early 1990s, and the West Bengal PWD even carried out soil tests. But nothing has happened since then,” Pathak told HT. “The new bridge will also go a long way to provide social justice to the people of the North East, particularly those in the Dooars,” he said.
