Uncertainty looms large over rail communication in NC Hills, Dima Hasao
A CORRESPONDENT
HAFLONG: The rail communication between Lumding-Badarpur hills section of NF railway which was disrupted due the track settlement between Mupa-Kalachand will require few more days for restoration, said General Manger, NF Railway, Sanjive Roy on Tuesday.
NF Railway General Manger Roy was here along with several officials of the Railways, including Chief Engineer and Divisional Railway Manager Lumding, to take stock of the restoration works. Earlier, the target for the restoration was fixed as June 16 but due to further shrinkage even after linking of the track, the restoration of communication could not be done in time.
However, the General Manager, while talking to mediapersons, assured that within a few days they would run goods train first, thereafter observing all the precautionary measures the passenger trains would run. The BG alignment has to be diverted along the old MG alignment. He said that even after track linking there was sudden shrinkage followed by landslide towards the riverfront below. Therefore, massive protection work was required at the riverfront. He said that all the restoration works were going on in full swing round-the-clock. He added that due to the disruption, the Railways had to incur a heavy loss, which included Rs 5 crore- Rs 7 crore only for the restoration works of this portion.
The rail communication was disrupted due to sudden settlement of track measuring 170-metre length by 10 metre depth between Mupa and Kalachand on June 2 causing inconvenience, not only to the Barak Valley but also to the people of neighbouring States like Tripura, Manipur, and Mizoram. This section of the NF Railway is considered as the lifeline of southern Assam, Tripura, Manipur, and Mizoram.