NE: Train services remain disrupted due to landslides, restoration work in full swing

Guwahati, July 8 (IANS) Railway services between South Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram, and the rest of the country remained disrupted for the second consecutive day on Tuesday due to landslides in the Lumding-Badarpur Hill section under Assam's Dima Hasao district, officials said.

The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Kapinjal Kishore Sharma said that a train running in the Lumding-Badarpur Hill section was disrupted on Monday due to the falling of earth, muck, boulders, etc, in huge quantities from the adjoining hills over the railway track between Mupa-Dihakho stations of Lumding Division.

He said that due to the landslides, the track has been suspended for train operation until the clearance of debris to ensure safety.

Restoration work at the site has been going on utilising machines and adequate manpower, Sharma said. Help desks have been opened to facilitate passengers at Guwahati, Lumding, Silchar, Badarpur and Agartala stations.

Since June 23, South Assam, Tripura, Manipur, and Mizoram have been disconnected by railway network from the rest of the country for the third time due to landslides on the single-line railway track.

After a day's disruption due to landslides, normal train services in the region resumed on July 4.

Earlier, after a week of disruption due to landslides in the same Lumding-Badarpur Hill section, regular train services between South Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram, and the rest of the country via Guwahati fully resumed on June 30.

The vital train services in the Lumding-Badarpur Hill Section of the Lumding division have been disrupted since June 23 after landslides badly affected the railway track in the mountainous areas under Assam's Dima Hasao district.

During the monsoon period (June to September), every year, several northeastern states, especially Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur and southern Assam, remain cut off from the rest of the country for weeks owing to landslides, waterlogging and damage to railway tracks, leading to hardship for the people of the region.

--IANS

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