Railways restore landslide ravaged track in Dima Hasao district of Assam: NFR

Guwahati: The rail link to Assam’s Dima Hasao district, which was totally snapped in a series of devastating landslides, has been restored, a senior official of Northeast Frontier Railway said on Tuesday.

NFR Chief Public Relations Officer Sabyasachi De said train services will restart soon on the section, which connects the Barak valley of Assam, Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur.

“Despite rainfall acting as a barrier in the work process, N F Railway completed restoration of the hill section within the targeted time frame,” he said in a statement.

The overall situation in the Dima Hasao district of Assam has become normal to some extent after the heavy damage caused due to the landslide, De said.

“Full fledged rail connectivity will soon resume to and from the southern part of the Northeast, starting with freight services. Railway has put all its efforts in restoring the damaged line and re-starting the train services,” he added.

Earlier, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had assured the people of Northeast that the train services would resume in the hill section by July 10.

“The team of N F Railway worked relentlessly to ensure connectivity to South Assam, Tripura, Manipur and Mizoram. Trial light engine runs were conducted successfully at all the affected locations by July 8,” De said.

The CPRO further claimed that the restoration works taken up by the N F Railway is the fastest ever in Indian Railways while dealing with such huge natural calamities.

During the second week of May, around 85 km of railway track in the Lumding–Badarpur hill section of Lumding Division were badly affected due to heavy torrential rains and massive landslides.

Breaches had occurred at more than 61 locations in this section, resulting in disruption of the rail communication to the states of Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur and parts of Assam from May 14.

The Railway Ministry had later sanctioned Rs 180 crore for the restoration of snapped railway lines in flood-ravaged Dima Hasao.