If you are driving up to Sikkim over the next few weeks, this is the one road update worth knowing. NHIDCL is carrying out excavation, slope protection and landslide-mitigation work on the Sevoke to Rangpo stretch of NH-10, the lifeline road between Siliguri and Sikkim. To keep crews and vehicles safe, the highway is closed to all traffic through the night on the dates below. I handle permits and road logistics for our trips, so I will keep this simple: what is closed, when, and whether it changes anything for you.
| Phase | Dates (2026) | Night closure |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | 7 to 15 October | 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM |
| Phase 2 | 26 October to 5 November | 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM |
Does this affect your Sikkim trip? Mostly, no
For almost everyone, the honest answer is no. The closure is at night only, and nobody should be driving the Teesta valley after dark anyway. It is a narrow, landslide-prone road, and we plan every arrival and departure transfer to clear the Sevoke to Rangpo stretch well before 9 PM. If your Bagdogra flight or NJP train gets you to Siliguri by late afternoon, you reach Gangtok in good time and the closure never touches your trip.
If you land late in the evening
The one case that needs a small adjustment is a late-evening arrival into Bagdogra or NJP. If your flight lands after about 6 or 7 PM, there is not enough daylight left to clear the stretch before the 9 PM barrier, so we hold you overnight in Siliguri and start the drive up at first light. That adds a night at the bottom of the hill, not a cancelled trip. Tell us your flight or train number and we build the halt into your plan from the start, so you are never stuck at a closed barrier at midnight.
About the graphic doing the rounds
You may have seen a poster on social media with a 7 PM start time and closure dates running all the way to January 2027. We checked it against the actual NHIDCL order and the news reports. The official notice is 9 PM to 6 AM, and the confirmed phases are the two in the table above, ending 5 November. NHIDCL has said more phases may be announced later depending on how the work goes, which may be where the longer list came from, but those dates are not official yet. We would rather give you the confirmed facts than a forwarded graphic.
Sources and updates
The dates and timings here are from the NHIDCL night-closure order for the Sevoke to Rangpo section of NH-10, as reported in October 2026 by ThePrint, Sikkim Express and other outlets: all vehicles, 9 PM to 6 AM, phases of 7 to 15 October and 26 October to 5 November, with any further phases to be notified separately. Road work in this belt can change at short notice, so we will update this page if NHIDCL extends or revises the schedule.
