Overview
- West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari virtually inaugurated the 60-metre Bailey bridge that the Indian Army’s Trishakti Corps, the PWD and the district administration rebuilt to reconnect Siliguri and Mirik.
- Officials said the bridge is engineered to carry up to nine tonnes but will initially allow only light vehicles up to six tonnes and will open to traffic once a 600-metre approach road is completed.
- The state government is building a permanent Rs 53-crore concrete bridge next to the collapsed site with an expected completion in March 2027.
- The inauguration was paired with stepped-up disaster-preparedness plans that include a permanent 50-member civil defence rescue team for the hills, procurement of advanced equipment, and short-term contractual hiring of retired Army personnel through the Sainik Board.
- The quick military-led deployment follows two washaways of Dudhia crossing infrastructure that cut hill-plain access and forced long detours, illustrating the region’s vulnerability to intense monsoon floods and the role of Bailey bridges as rapid, interim fixes before permanent civil works.