Guwahati: The Northeast Frontier Railway is now putting all its efforts into restoring the damaged line and re-starting the train services to South Assam, Manipur, Tripura and Mizoram.
Continued rains in the several locations in Lumding – Badarpur hill section of Lumding had led to landslides. New Haflong station is completely inundated with debris. The empty passenger train standing at the station has been washed off from the tracks due to a massive landslide. The number of breach locations have increased to 53 today (26 locations were identified yesterday). However, the restoration works at 11 locations have already been completed.
The NF Railway said today that around 1,600 railway passengers stranded at Ditokcherra station had already been rescued yesterday and were sent to Badarpur and Silchar. Out of the 1,600 passengers, 119 were evacuated by the Indian Air Force.
Stranded passengers of train no. 15615 at New Haflong were moved to Maibang station by buses. 204 passengers had left for Guwahati from Maibang yesterday. Around 169 stranded passenger left for Guwahati from Maibang station at 4.30 am today.
Around 571 more stranded passengers at Ditokchera station were rescued today. The last evacuation special from KM 135 up to Badarpur and Silchar moved at 7:30 pm.
The Northeast Frontier Railway said it has successfully completed the evacuation of all the stranded passengers. Coordinated efforts at all the affected stations and coordination with local administration, Assam Rifles, Indain Air Force and NGOs have shown results in these tough and demanding weather conditions.
It conducted the rescued and relief operations of stranded train passengers on war footing under the supervision of senior officers of Lumding division and headquarters. Staffs of various departments have provided their dedicated services day and night for this heroic performance. The on-site team effort of P-way Inspectors, Station Masters, Assistant Station Masters, Trolleymen, and most importantly the RPF personnel guided by the officers at site have saved lives of many passengers.
Station staffs also went out of their way to provide food to some passengers out of their own kitchen even when their homes were filling up with the flood waters. Railway staffs at Daotuhaja station have taken shelter in station premises because of floods. Efforts are being made to provide them with food and water.
The NF Railway has also arranged to refund the ticket fares to the affected passengers. Refund amounting to Rs 8 lakh has already been made for 1006 passengers. Remaining affected passengers can claim their refunds on IRCTC website (for e-tickets) and at PRS counters of the stations (for window tickets).
A statement issued by ASDMA says the Dima Hasao district can’t be approached from outside as all roads, and railways leading to Haflong have been blocked since May 15.
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