Sikkim: Indo-Nepal border road under Geyzing district to remain closed for one month

The road to Indo-Nepal border Chewabhanjyang from Uttarey under Geyzing district in West Sikkim will remain closed for a month for carrying out cutting and protective construction works by the Roads & Bridges department.

An order from the Geyzing district administration informs that cutting and protective works are being carried out at various stretches of the Sopakha- Chewabhanjyang road that is 20 km long. 

Machines are engaged at various points and there is a danger of boulders falling making it risky for traffic movement. 

To facilitate the completion of these works, the road to Chewabhanjyang from Sopakha is closed to the public and all types of vehicles from January 11 to February 10, as per the order.

However, people can reach Chewabhanjyang by trekking from Uttarey. The picturesque border is 10 km away from Uttarey and takes 4-5 hours of walking.

Despite not being fully completed, the road to Chewabhanjyang is motorable which attracted a lot of locals and tourists to visit this remote border by the vehicle.

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Meanwhile, the Nepal government has already laid a motorable road to the Chewabhanjyang border on its side. Both countries had deployed security personnel at the respective border points at Chewabhanjyang.

Earlier, Maneybong-Uttarey GPU had carried out a day-long cleanliness drive at the Indo-Nepal border Chewabhanjyang, under the theme “Swachhata Hi Seva”.

The drive was organised by the Maneybong-Uttarey Gram Panchayat Unit of Gyalshing district. The cleanliness drive was also joined by 36bn SSB personnel and Sikkim Armed Police (SAP) personnel posted at the Chewabhanjyang border operation post. The cleanliness drive started from Uttarey and covered major tourist spots like Chitray and Bhaluwalay right up to the border pass, Chewabhanjyang. 

All seven-member panchayat of Maneybong-Uttarey GPU had actively participated in the cleanliness drive including its president Bhim Kumar Limboo, vice president Meena Kumari Rai, and panchayat member Ongdi Sherpa. Zilla panchayat member K. N. Limboo, NGO members of the area and local tourism stakeholders also took part in the drive.

Panchayat member Durga Gurung shared that Maneybong-Uttarey GPU carries out such cleanliness drives at Chewabhanjyang at least every six months. The Gram Panchayat has also installed dustbins at major points along the way.

During the drive, the Gram Panchayat had also interacted with visiting tourists, stakeholders, tourism service providers, border security personnel and locals and made them aware about the ill-effects of littering and appealed to them to be sensible and responsible towards the environment and requested them to bring down their garbage/ waste to segregation entres at Uttarey.

Gram panchayat had also sensitized the tourists and trekkers before their departure to the trekking route, informed panchayat president Bhim Kumar Limboo.