Northeastern states isolated from mainland due to flooded railway tracks
Several northeastern states of India, including Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram, and the southern part of Assam, have been cut off from the rest of the country due to waterlogged and damaged railway tracks. The damage was caused by landslides triggered by incessant rain following Cyclone Remal. A Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) official reported that railway tracks were inundated or damaged in at least 10 places in the New Haflong-Bandarkhal section under the Lumding division in southern Assam's Dima Hasao district.
Restoration efforts hampered by adverse weather conditions
The NFR official stated that engineers and workers are working to restore rail services, but heavy rain and adverse weather conditions have severely hampered restoration work. He added that full-fledged work could not commence until the rain ceased. Since Tuesday, the NFR has had to cancel a large number of express, passenger, and goods trains bound for south Assam, Tripura, Manipur, and Mizoram due to rains.
Disruption leads to shortage of essential goods
The disruption in rail services has led to a major shortage of transport fuel—petrol and diesel—and other essential goods in southern Assam, Tripura, Mizoram, and Manipur. Passenger and goods train services have been disrupted in the region since April 25 due to heavy landslides damaging railway tracks. The NFR has been operating a limited number of trains during the day on this hilly route due to damaged railway tracks and weak soil conditions.
Watch: Visuals from Manipur
3 people killed in Assam
In related incidents caused by heavy rain, three people were killed and 17 others injured in separate incidents in Assam on Tuesday. Among them was a 60-year-old woman who died after a tree fell on her in Kamrup district. Another person died in a landslide at an under-construction hydroelectric power project site in Lakhimpur district. A 17-year-old college student was also killed when a tree fell on an autorickshaw he was traveling in at Dighalbori in Morigaon district.
