Floods Damage Wash Away Portions of Assam-Mizoram Railway Track

Amid the prevailing monsoon in Assam, heavy floods have damaged over 200 metres of railway track on the Silchar (Assam)-Bairabi (Mizoram) broad gauge rail line at Killarbak. The soil beneath the track has been washed away, leaving the track suspended in air. Due to this, Mizoram has been cut off from the rest of the country as far as railway connectivity is connectivity is concerned. If reports are to be believed continouos erosion of the Dhaleswari embankment at Killarbak over the last several months has worsened the condition of the soil on which the railway track stands. According to sources in the Railway, precarious flow of the Dhaleswari river has posed to be a serious challenge in the restoration of the railway track. Repairs can only begin once the Dhaleswari river’s water level comes down.