Chamling sends SOS to Prime Minister

Gangtok, Jun 12 (UNI) With Sikkim continuing to reel under the political disturbances in neighbouring Darjeeling district, Chief Minister Pawan Chamling today appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his personal intervention to solve the problem 'permanently'.

In a letter faxed to the Prime Minister, Mr Chamling appealed to him to personally intervene in the matter for solving the problem in Darjeeling hills 'permanently' so that the landlocked state of Sikkim, surrounded by three international borders, and its people are not put to further difficulty and strain with 'no fault of their own'.

The Chief Minister has brought to the notice of Dr Singh that the bandhs called by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and subsequent bandh by Amra Bangali group has resulted in ' complete cessation of traffic of passengers and goods to and fro Sikkim along the National Highway 31A', that links the state with the rest of the country.

In the letter Mr Chamling said that even though the state government has introduced immediate rationing of essential commodities like LPG and POL in the state, yet the bandhs called by these organisations have put severe strain on the inadequate stock of these essential commodities.

He also pointed out the such strikes and bandhs, a regular feature during the last 28 years, has affected the tourism industry badly in Sikkim resulting in loss of an estimated Rs 10 crores per day.

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