Engineers of the Indian Army's Trishakti Corps constructed a 70-feet Bailey Bridge on Gangtok's Dikchu-Sanklang road in less than 72 hours to restore connectivity to areas cut off due to recent floods in Sikkim, officials said on Thursday.
With the support of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and local administration, the construction work started on June 23 and was completed within 72 hours.
The devastating floods in Sikkim disrupted road communications in many parts of the state. Responding promptly to the rebuilding calls, the Army engineers began constructing the Bailey Bridge at Dett Khola on the Dikchu-Sanklang axis on June 23, PRO Defence, Guwahati said.
Despite incessant rains and challenging technical constraints, they completed the bridge within 72 hours, they added.
This bridge is a crucial link for enabling vehicular traffic from Dikchu to Sanklang towards Chungthang. It will facilitate the provision of basic necessities, including critical medical aid, to the affected people of Mangan district.
"Mr Pintso Namgyal Lepcha, State Forest Minister and state secretary of Disaster Management visited the site on June 27 and appreciated the efforts of the Indian Army in completing the bridge at a fast pace," the PRO Defence stated.
The unprecedented heavy rains in Sikkim since June 11 have caused multiple landslides and breaches on roads leading to North Sikkim, such as Dikchu-Sanklang-Toong, Mangan-Sanklang, Singtham-Rangrang, and Rangrang-Toong, severing connectivity to the region.
On June 23, Indian Army engineers from the Trishakti Corps also constructed a 150-foot suspension bridge in North Sikkim. This bridge reconnected border villages that had been cut off due to continued heavy rains, providing much-needed relief to the local residents, according to a statement from the army.
