Landslides wreck road links in three states; tree crushes man in Barpeta

Guwahati: Incessant monsoon rain wreaked havoc, triggering multiple landslides across Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh derailing surface communication.National Highway-6 that connects Guwahati with Barak Valley in south Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur and Mizoram closed again due to fresh landslides at Sonapur tunnel in the East Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya, while several houses were damaged in landslides in the hills of Guwahati. In lower Assam’s Barpeta district, one Gautam Das was killed when a tree fell on his house in Barpeta Road No. 2 ward on Thursday. Sonapur tunnel was opened to traffic late on Wednesday as another mudslide hit the tunnel that brought movement of vehicles to a grinding halt the previous day. “The Sonapur tunnel is located in a sliding zone and mudslides have been reoccurring due to incessant rain in the last couple of days,” said an official of NHAI.Hundreds of vehicles remained stranded on the stretch, even as efforts were on to clear debris by the authorities. Meghalaya police in an update at 8 am on Thursday said, “There has been another mudslide at Sonapur tunnel and the road is currently blocked. Efforts are on to clear the same.” The police distributed food and water to the drivers stranded since Wednesday night.Road communication continued to be impacted due to landslides at about a dozen locations in Balipara-Charidur-Tawang highway that connects northern Assam with Arunachal Pradesh. Landslides were reported near Lumum fall and in Bhalukpung. As a result, traffic was diverted through Orang-Kalaktang- Shergaon-Rupa-Tenga Road to reach Tawang and frontier areas in Arunachal. The landslide occurred in Guwahati when rainwater and dirt poured down at Pathaquary, Lakhi Mandir Road. No casualties were reported. Meanwhile, several bylanes in Hatigaon and eastern part of the city remained inundated in knee-deep water for a second consecutive day. In Nalbari district too, the town areas were inundated.