Rajnath asks Home Secretary to ensure smooth traffic towards Sikkim

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday instructed the Home Secretary to coordinate with West Bengal government to ensure smooth traffic on National Highway 10 connecting Sikkim so that it gets supplies.

Singh also spoke to Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling regarding the security situation in Sikkim and areas neighbouring West Bengal where protests are taking place over the demand for Gorkhaland.

Chamling told Singh over the phone that Sikkim was facing an acute shortage of supplies, especially essential commodities like medicines, baby milk powder, vegetables and petrol and diesel due to the closure of the national highway, the "critical road link" to Sikkim.

"I assured him that the Centre will ensure the safety and security of NH 10 and do everything possible to save people of the state from any misery," Singh tweeted.

"Singh has asked Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi to coordinate with West Bengal administration and ensure the safety, security and smooth traffic on NH 10," an official statement said.

The West Bengal government is being requested to ensure that the road link to Sikkim remains open, it said.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) request came as several incidents were reported in the past week when Sikkim-registered trucks were vandalised and looted by unidentified miscreants in Siliguri.

The violent incidents were reported after the Sikkim chief minister supported the demand of Gorkhaland and also wrote to the Centre saying it was a justified and long-pending demand of the people of the Darjeeling hills.