NE landslides: Restoration of Railway services underway, two trains operated for stranded passengers

Even as Railway services between Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram and the rest of the country are yet to be restored and landslide clearance in the Lumding–Badarpur hill section is still underway, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) operated two special trains for the benefit of stranded passengers, officials said.

NFR’s Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Kapinjal Kishore Sharma said that to clear the extra rush of passengers, it has been decided to run Silchar–Guwahati and Guwahati–Agartala one-way special.

Though the clearance of landslides and restoration of railway tracks was underway on a war footing, the Railway officials have not yet confirmed when normal train services would be restored in the region.

According to NFR CPRO, trains in the Lumding-Badarpur hill section were suspended on Monday due to mud, boulders, etc falling in huge quantities from the adjoining hills onto the railway track between Mupa-Dihakho stations of Lumding division of Assam’s Dima Hasao district.

Train operations on the single line railway track have been suspended until full clearance of debris to ensure safety, he said.

Sharma said that senior engineers and Northeast Frontier Railway officials are supervising the restoration work at the site and machines and adequate manpower were mobilised for the early restoration of train services.

Help desks have been opened to facilitate passengers at Guwahati, Lumding, Silchar, Badarpur and Agartala stations.

Since June 23, the railway network of Assam, Tripura, Manipur, and Mizoram has been cut off from the network of the rest of the country for the third time, due to landslides.

After a week of disruption due to landslides in the same Lumding-Badarpur hill section, regular train services between Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram, and the rest of the country via Guwahati fully resumed on June 30.

Vital train services in the Lumding-Badarpur hill section of the Lumding division have been disrupted since June 23 after landslides hit the railway track in the mountainous areas under Assam's Dima Hasao district.

Again, after a day's disruption due to landslides, normal train services in the region resumed on July 4.

During the monsoon period from June to September every year, several northeastern states, especially Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur and Assam, remain cut off from the rest of the country for weeks owing to landslides, water logging and damage to railway tracks, leading to hardship for the people of the region.