Landslide at multiple places at National Highway between Badarpur to Shillong in Jaintia Hills

May 14: With the onslaught of the rainy season, rail and road connectivity between Barak Valley with the rest of the country has been disrupted. Due to the incessant rainfall in the past couple of days, the connectivity between Haflong and Silchar snapped as water level rose on the highway near Kapurcherra in the hill district, while Haflong- Lanka road has also been cut off due to heavy landslide in various areas in between the routes.

Apart from this, multiple landslides were also reported in the National Highway between Umkiang to Ratacherra. As a result, the Silchar- Guwahati road was also closed. On Thursday and Friday, hundreds of passengers travelling by bus from Silchar to Guwahati got stranded as huge rocks from the mountains fell on the highway. At some other places, the roads were washed away by the rushing water from the hills.

Some of the passengers have recorded video clips of their ordeal, which soon went viral in social media. Women were seen to take immense risk and crossing the areas on foot where landslides occurred with children in their lap. They had to walk for many kilometeres in order to get vehicles. Though the concerned roads department staff were seen to be involved in clearing the roads, but incessant rainfall has made it difficult for them to carry on their work.

Meanwhile, from Saturday, even the railway services were disrupted between Badarpur and Haflong due to landslides at several places. The police and district administration officials rescued 11 workers who were stuck on the other side of the Jatinga river near Harangajao. Several parts of Haflong town have also been inundated by the heavy downpour.