Sikkim Minister Samdup Lepcha Reopens Gurudogmar Road

Sikkim, August 17, 2019:

The Chungthang Lachen-Gurudogmar road, which was closed since June 17, 2019, due to a massive landslide, has reopened today.

The road was closed over the past two months and was reopened today with the intervention of Minister Road and Bridges, Samdup Lepcha.

After several meetings with the check post wing of the Police department and other authorities, Lepcha reopened the stretch with the motive of restoring the old road. The permit to travel through the route will be issued to the local populace as well as tourists from August 18.

The cloud burst on June 17, 2019, triggered a massive landslide along the Lachen-Gurudogmar region. Around 400 tourists were evacuated during the incident and since then the road was declared vulnerable and closed for around 2 months.  The rain had swelled the rivers to such an extent that Chi Bum bridge, Taram  Chu Bridge and numerous culverts were ceased to exist during that storm.

The Chungthang Lachen-Gurudogmar passage was created through the Army Barrack for emergency work but not for the tourism purpose. The entire tourism stakeholders as well the local populace waited patiently for the BRO to resume repair work for 2 straight months. The hope was fading as numerous tourists had to be turned away as well there was a severe jolt in the movement of the local populace.

The Travel Agents Association of Sikkim and the SKM Tourism Wing expresses gratitude to the minister for reopening the route.

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