Suruk seller walk five hours to sell vegetables

Suruk-Samthar, Kalimpong: Think twice before bargaining with the vegetable-seller at the bi-weekly haat in Kalimpong, especially if he is from Suruk village.

The villagers of Suruk-Samthar go through enormous pain and hardship to get their fare to the Kalimpong haat every Wednesday and Saturday. With loads on their back, they walk for about five hours through hills and vales, to reach the town, 79km away.

“We prefer to walk than take a jeep ride because we cannot afford to pay the fare of Rs 90. In any case, it takes the same time to reach Kalimpong by car,” said Dhan Bahadur, a villager. Bahadur is right because a car ride through most of the unmetalled road is backbreaking, as The Telegraph discovered.

A 30km stretch starting from a little beyond Kafer towards Suruk is treacherous with the last 5km from Samthar positively dangerous.

Things could get much better for the villagers if an alternative road via Pala near Relli was completed. “The DGHC is building the road which, when completed, would cut travel time by more than half,” said Sudesh Pradhan, a tour operator.

However, till the DGHC road is built, residents of Suruk will continue to be in the dark age, literally, with electricity yet to reach the village, not to talk about drinking water. “The village has only one dispensary, run by Christian sisters. During emergencies, we have to take the patients to town and they invariably die on the way,” said Pasang Lepcha, a volunteer-teacher at the middle school in Shantinagar, as the village square is called.

The Samthar-Suruk path was cut out of the hills two years ago. “Every household here contributed money to cut the road. I gave Rs 1,000,” said 76-year-old Lal Bahadur Bhujel. Even at his age, Bhujel treks to Kalimpong, albeit not as frequently as he once used to do. “The last time I went to Kalimpong was about a month-and-half ago. It took me nearly seven hours,” he said. His 72-year-old wife, Laxmi, however, has not gone to the hill town for more than 10 years now. “I am old. My legs don’t hold,” she said with a smile.

Source: The Telegraph