A second road linking Tsomgo lake and Nathula border pass with Gangtok — named as ‘Narendra Modi Marg’ has been officially inaugurated by the Governor Ganga Prasad. The older route is known as Jawaharlal Nehru Road. As per the officials, "the alternative double-lane road at 51 Kyongasala gram panchayat unit (GPU) — spanning 19.51 km — has been operational for almost a year now."
DB Chauhan, the state BJP president, shared pictures of Tuesday’s inauguration on Twitter and wrote, “Pleased to join Hon'ble Shri Ganga Prasad Ji during the inauguration ceremony of #Narendra #Modi #Marg at Kyongnosla GPU. The newly constructed alternative alignment road towards Changu lake has been named after Hon. PM Shri @narendramodi Ji dedicating to his historic achievements and extraordinary leadership to serve the Nation. The naming of the road was unanimously passed by the Gram Sabha of Kyongnosla GPU under the leadership of panchayat President Shri IK Rasaily."
"The newly constructed alternative alignment road towards Changu lake has been named after Honourable PM Shri @narendramodi Ji", said IK Rasaily, the panchayat head of 51 Kyongasala GPU. On December 20, a proposal to rename the road after the prime minister was unanimously passed in the gram sabha. The stretch has been constructed by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to reduce the distance between Gangtok and Tsomgo lake by 15 km.
“Also, another reason that prompted us to name the road after the PM was the manner in which he handled the Doklam issue (border standoff with China) and provided protection to people in this border region," Rasaily said.
Addressing the gathering at 4th Mile Junior High School, JN Road, the Governor said, “the construction of alternative road will boost tourism and employment opportunities for local youth of Kyongnosala Gram Panchayat Unit.”