सांसद राजु बिष्टले सडक,यातायात तथा राजमार्ग मन्त्री श्री. नितिन गडकरी सित गरे भेटघाट

सांसद राजु बिष्टले सडक,यातायात तथा राजमार्ग मन्त्री श्री. नितिन गडकरी सित गरे भेटघाट 

Today, I met with Hon'ble Minister for Road, Transport and Highways Sh. Nitin Gadkari ji, to appraise him about the critical condition of National Highway - 10 (NH-10). It is one of India's most important routes connecting the border regions of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Dooars, and Sikkim to the rest of the country

This critical highway faced catastrophic damages due to the flash floods on River Teesta in October, 2023. Since then, many sections of NH-10 that have been washed away by the flood have not been fixed, leading to regular shut-downs. The recent rainfall in the region had further exacerbated the problem, with river Teesta rising and flow of water in the river cutting off the highway base.

Despite being nine months since the disaster, the West Bengal Public Works Department's NH Division has delayed repairs, jeopardizing daily commuters and the region's economy. The lack of timely repair of NH-10 not only presents tremendous hardships for the locals, but it also harms tourism, trade, commerce and business in our region. I therefore requested Nitin Gadkari ji to kindly hand-over the entire portion of NH-10 to NHAI/NHIDCL.

Hon'ble Nitin Gadkari ji promptly directed his ministry officials to expedite the process of transferring NH-10 from WB PWD to NHIDCL.

NH-10 is the lifeline for the border region of Kalimpong, Darjeeling and Sikkim. Everyday delay in repairing this road is causing harassment to the people living in our region, and damages to our tourism industry, trade and commerce.

I assure the people, that once NHIDCL takes over the NH-10 entirely, NH-10 will be better maintained, and along with the others, the local citizens living along river Teesta will greatly benefit from this. 

*Raju Bista*

*Member of Parliament, Darjeeling and*

*National Spokesperson, BJP*