Sikkim sends highway SOS

Gangtok, June 16: Sikkim today sent SOS messages to the Centre and the Bengal government to ensure that the national highway connecting the hill state with the rest of the country was not blocked because of the turmoil in Darjeeling.

State chief secretary N.D. Chingapa followed up chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling’s letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by appealing to the Union cabinet secretary and the Bengal chief secretary and home secretary to ensure that NH31A is kept open. “It is imperative that the highway is kept open for essential commodities and services to reach us,” he said.

Chingappa hinted that if the bandh continued and the situation in the state became “unmanageable”, Sikkim would seek army deployment to clear the blockades that the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supporters had threatened to set up.

“As of now, it is still not an option,” an official said.

As part of the “emergency measures” to meet “any eventuality” that may occur during the Morcha’s indefinite bandh, the Sikkim food and civil supplies department has been asked to ration petrol and LPG and stock up essential foodgrain.

“We have done a reasonable amount of stocking up, but that cannot last forever,” a senior official said. “In the last few days when the bandh was relaxed in the Darjeeling hills, we procured as much as possible. We do hope that the bandh does not stretch so long that our stocks get exhausted. In any case, we expect the Centre and the Bengal government to ensure that NH31A is kept open,” he added.

Morcha leaders had said yesterday they were “using” the “Sikkim factor” to push the Centre into calling them for talks. Morcha chief Bimal Gurung had told a rally in Kalimpong that the highway would be blocked until Sikkim spoke up on Gorkhaland.