Landslides disrupt rail services in parts of northeast

SILCHAR - Rail services in southern Assam, Tripura, Manipur and Mizoram have been suspended for the past one week following heavy landslides, an official said Tuesday. The services may resume Friday.

“Railway workers led by senior officials have cleared most of the debris in many places in southern Assam’s North Cachar Hills district. The huge mud slides covering more than 150-metre of rail track near Harangajao are being cleared,” Northeast Frontier Railway spokesman Subrata Hajong told reporters.

He said that it would take another three-four days to clear the debris and make way for trains. “We are expecting to restore rail services in the region by Friday,” Hajong said.

Senior railway officials and engineers have been camping at the spot, 300 km south of Assam’s main city Guwahati, to supervise the clearance work.

The metre-gauge railway line from Guwahati passes through southern Assam connecting land-locked Tripura’s capital Agartala and parts of Manipur and Mizoram with the rest of India.

Meanwhile, the Tripura government has asked the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to build a buffer stock of rice and other essential commodities for the northeastern state within next fortnight before the monsoon intensifies in the region.

“Officials of the Tripura government met senior officials of FCI and union ministry of food and civil supplies in New Delhi Monday and asked them to ensure immediate stocks of the essentials,” Tripura Food and Civil Supplies minister Manik Dey told reporters.