Acting Sikkim CM inspects town on foot

Gangtok, Sikkim: The acting chief minister of Sikkim, D.D. Bhutia, today toured the capital on foot to make a spot assessment of the town and decide on the measures required for a cleaner Gangtok.

Officials from the East district administration, police, departments of urban development, power and forest, Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and BSNL accompanied the minister on the tour.

Bhutia started off from Vajra Cinema complex and walked up to the Indira Bypass intersection at Tadong, where huge rocks, brought down by a landslide last week, are still blocking the road. The minister asked the BRO officials to clear the debris at the earliest, but advised against the use of explosives to break up the rocks.

Bhutia walked around 5 km along NH 31A and inspected the M.G. Marg area and the other suburbs located beside the highway. He ordered urban development department officials to remove the unauthorised paan shops blocking the drains.

BSNL officials came under Bhutia’s ire for failing to comply with earlier directives to clear the messy overhead cables and cover those supposed to run underground.

The minister also directed BSNL to remove all poles located on the pavements. He found certain stretches of the pavements too narrow and asked representatives of the National Building Construction Company to widen them. Forest department officials were told to fell the trees that were dangerously leaning over the roads and buildings.

The progress of work on the proposed measures will be reviewed every 15 days, Bhutia said. The measures include a blanket ban on all construction in Gangtok till September. Work on construction sites during the monsoon often chokes the drains, increasing the threat of landslides.

“Despite repeated directives, nothing seems to be moving,” Bhutia told officials of the various agencies. “Things have to happen now.”

Bhutia is currently officiating as chief minister in the absence of Pawan Chamling, who is on a tour abroad. The acting chief minister also holds the portfolios of the departments of urban development and housing, and land revenue and disaster management.

Source: The Telegraph