Siliguri, June 13: The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is worried that a
fresh landslide will topple a portion of the nearly 100-year-old railway
workshop perched immediately above a highway stretch that sank at Tindharia
last year.
The DHR wheel shop that houses
five to six heritage machines sits precariously just 200 metres above the
damaged stretch of NH55. Nearly 150 metres of the highway were washed away in a
landslide triggered by heavy rain on September 28 last year.
The DHR officials said the machines
were too heavy and couldn’t be relocated to another part of the workshop.
“The wheel shop on the right
side of the workshop is at the risk of falling over along with machines which
are nearly 100 years old. The machines are too heavy and they cannot be
shifted. We were hoping that the damaged stretch of the highway would be
repaired before monsoon. However, there is no sign of restoration and we fear
heavy rainfall may trigger fresh landslides, causing the wheel shop and
machines to collapse,” said a DHR official.
Praful Rao
Praful Rao
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