Heavy rain inundates New Haflong station

Silchar: In a rerun of last month’s massive devastation, Dima Hasao district’s New Haflong railway station got inundated after heavy rain on Wednesday, filling its premises with mud and debris.
On May 15, torrential rainfall and storm had derailed some coaches of a train at the railway station and also damaged the station substantially. Besides, inclement weather had disrupted rail connectivity totally in the hill district bringing miseries for people like never before.
Reports from Haflong, the headquarters of Dima Hasao district said, the New Haflong railway station got inundated on Wednesday morning following incessant rainfall since Tuesday night. Rail teams have been working to restore railway services in the district. However, with the weather conditions worsening once again, it seems very unlikely that the railway connectivity will be normalised soon, a source said.
The NF Railway has planned to restore train services on the Lumding-Badarpur hill section on July 10. However, the recurrence of devastation triggered by heavy rainfall came as a major hindrance to fulfilling the target, an official engaged in restoration work said.
Meanwhile, road link between Silchar and Harangajao has been snapped following heavy rainfall. A river that flows along the road has swelled up “precariously”, disrupting surface communication between Silchar and Harangajao. Landslides have also been reported from some areas in Bandarkhal and Durga Mandir. Apart from that, connectivity on the Haflong-Lumding road has also been snapped, a source said.
A weather bulletin issued by the Regional Meteorological Centre, Guwahati, on Wednesday said the Dima Hasao district is very likely to witness heavy rainfall and thundershowers till June 19.