Work to restore railway line is on at a war footing: Official
GUWAHATI/ HAFLONG, May 17 (PTI): Surface links to Assam’s Barak Valley and Dima Hasao district and to neighbouring states of Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur remained snapped on Tuesday as incessant rains triggered landslides and washed off roads as well as railway tracks in multiple locations of Assam and Meghalaya.
Landslides in different locations in Assam’s Dima Hasao district disrupted road as well as rail connectivity.
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In Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district landslides cut off road communication to Barak Valley in southern Assam and vital parts of the three north eastern states.
East Jaintia Hills police have been alerted about fresh landslides under its jurisdiction.
“There has been a fresh landslide in Kuliang village on NH06 this morning. The route from Silchar-Ratachera-Khliehriat is blocked. Efforts are on to clear the same and necessary assistance is being provided to stranded passengers,” it tweeted.
Assam Police’s special director general G P Singh asked the public to avoid using the route till the roadblock is cleared.
“Please avoid travelling from Silchar towards Guwahati till the roadblock is cleared,” he tweeted.
An official bulletin said communication channels have been snapped in Dima Hasao since Sunday due to the heavy rains.
Landslides and road cave-ins at different locations have led to disruption of road communication to the district.
A Northeast Frontier Railway spokesperson said landslides and waterlogging on tracks in Lumding–Badarpur section have snapped train communication to Barak Valley, Manipur, Tripura and Mizoram.
Work to restore the railway line is on at a war footing, he added.
With the disruption in road and rail connectivity, air fare has shot up.
Silchar MP Rajdeep Roy, who rushed to his constituency tweeted, “With railways and roadways disrupted due to heavy rains and landslides I am stunned to see #silchar-#guwahati airfare reach 31000/- for a 25 min flight of 300km! This issue of ticket pricing needs to be addressed immediately!” he wrote, tagging the Prime Minister and his office, the civil aviation minister and the Airport Authority of India.
Assam is reeling under floods with around 4 lakh people in 26 districts affected so far.
Two flood-related deaths have been reported, while another five persons have died in landslides in the current wave of floods.
Closure of Edu institutions ordered
In view of the incessant rains and severe landslides occurring in different parts of Haflong and Dima Hasao district, causing severe damage to lives and properties, the Dima Hasao deputy commissioner and DDMA chairperson Nazreen Ahamed while exercising power u/s 34 ordered the closing of all educational institutions with effect from Tuesday.
Meanwhile, to accommodate displaced people in pursuance of u/s 34 (a) of the Disaster Management Act 2005, the administration has also asked to set up relief camps in the vicinity of Haflong at Muolhoi High School, Hmar inpui building, HAS building, NCHAC LP School, Lower Muolhoi and in Bright English Academy, Hunveng as of now to accommodate the displaced people due to natural calamities that hit the region.
On the other hand, the district administration has also been making arrangements to airlift the 35 railway personnel stranded in Dautuhaza railway station, where all surface communication has been cut off.
