North Sikkim Resumes Permits For Lachung, Yumthang and Zero Point

Tourism in North Sikkim is set to resume from Monday, nearly four months after it was suspended due to natural calamities, an official said.

CS Rao, the Additional Chief Secretary of the Tourism and Civil Aviation Department, said visitors can travel to Lachung, Yumthang Valley and Zero Point, with Lachen to reopen in the next tourist season. He told reporters that North Sikkim will reopen for tourists and online permits are being issued from Monday. Tourists must cross the Sanklang bridge check-post by 1 pm on the way in and the Toong bridge by 2 pm on the return. North Sikkim (Mangan District) had remained closed to visitors since late May due to natural calamities, he added.

Rao noted that the Sanklang bridge has been rebuilt by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to restore connectivity to the Dzongu region, and a diversion has been created to reduce travel time by about one-and-a-half hours for travellers heading towards Chungthang.

In response to a query about the battlefield tourism initiative announced earlier this year by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Rao said Chola and Doklam will be opened to domestic tourists from 27 September. “It has been decided to open Chola and Doklam for domestic tourists from 27 September, with an initial limit of 25 vehicles per day,” he stated. These destinations form part of a broader plan to promote tourism to historic military zones, which also includes the well-known Nathula Pass.