Heavy rainfall, strong winds wreak havoc in Dima Hasao

SILCHAR: Heavy rainfall coupled with gusty winds over the past three days have wreaked havoc in Assam‘s Dima Hasao district, affecting normal life.

Landslides have been reported at several places in the district, disrupting surface communication on various routes, including the Haflong-Dehangi and New Haflong-Jorai-Michidui roads. Minor landslips have also been reported from a few areas near Haflong. Around 100m-portion of a road between New Haflong and Boro Haflong has caved in, endangering vehicles travelling on the route.

Workers have been pressed into service to ensure continuation and safety in connection with the plying of vehicles, officials said. Railway services were disrupted for a few hours on Thursday following a landslide between Maibong and Mahur.

The station master of New Haflong railway station B. Badak said they had received the report of a landslide on the rail route between Maibong and Mahur on Thursday, after which a passenger train was stopped at Maibong railway station. Railway teams were working to repair the damaged tracks, he said.

Sources said a group of labourers, who got stuck near the Jatinga river in Harangajao on Thursday after they went there to collect stones, were rescued by police and administration officials. Rivers in hilly areas swell up at a rapid pace during downpour and the labourers got stuck near the Jatinga river before being rescued, sources said.

Talking to EastMojo, a resident of Haflong town S. Chakraborty said power supply was been affected in some areas of the town. Strong winds have partially damaged a number of shops and houses in the town as well, she said.

Another resident said many roads across the district are under water because of heavy rainfall and trees have been uprooted in several places including Harangajao, Gunjung and Maibong among others. Rivers and waterbodies are also swelling up because of the incessant downpour, he said.

An assistant commissioner in Dima Hasao district told EastMojo on Friday that the National Highway-27 (previously known as NH-54E), which connects Dima Hasao with Cachar district’s Silchar, has been shut down.

The road in Kapurcherra (Dima Hasao) is inundated because of rainfall and landslides have occurred in Balacherra (Cachar), snapping road connectivity. Work to clear soil and debris from the road is being done and hopefully the route will be ready for vehicular movement in the next one to two days, he said.

Apart from that, portions of soil and stones from hillocks and hills have fallen in a number of areas across the district, affecting surface communication, but those have been cleared with the help of excavators. Besides the Haflong-Silchar road’s closure, nothing major has happened in the district so far, the assistant commissioner said.

A bulletin issued by the Regional Meteorological Centre, Guwahati, on Thursday has predicted rainfall and thundershowers across Dima Hasao district at least till May 16 (Monday).

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