A second road linking Tsomgo lake and Nathula border pass with Gangtok -- christened as 'Narendra Modi Marg' -- was officially inaugurated by Sikkim Governor Ganga Prasad.
The older route is called Jawaharlal Nehru Road.
The alternative double-lane road at 51 Kyongasala gram panchayat unit -- spanning 19.51 km -- has been operational for almost a year now, officials said.
DB Chauhan, the state Bharatiya Janata Party president, shared pictures of Tuesday's inauguration on Twitter and said, "Pleased to join Hon'ble @Governor_Sikkim 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 Honourable PM Shri @narendramodi Ji."
IK Rasaily, the panchayat head of 51 Kyongasala GPU, said a proposal to rename the road after the prime minister was unanimously passed in the gram sabha on December 20.
The stretch, constructed by Border Roads Organisation, has reduced the distance between Gangtok and Tsomgo lake by 15 km.
It is a small gesture to show gratitude to the PM, who made available free vaccines and ration amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Rasaily stated.
"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," he said, adding that 80 per cent of the youth in the area have joined the Army.
