Guwahati, June 25: Rail connectivity on the Lumding–Badarpur section remains snapped following a major landslide that struck the region on June 22. The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has confirmed that train services cannot be resumed before a week, despite restoration work continuing at a rapid pace. Officials said progress is heavily dependent on weather conditions, which remain challenging.
A senior NFR official said approximately 100 meters of track was severely damaged after a slope adjacent to the railway line gave way due to continuous heavy rainfall. The slope failure occurred just 15 meters from the rail track, making the terrain highly unstable and unsafe for repair operations without further stabilization.
Adding to the crisis, road connectivity to Silchar has also been affected, as landslides have damaged multiple stretches of the National Highway, further isolating the area.
A high-level emergency meeting was held on June 24 to address the dual disruption of rail and road connectivity. The meeting, chaired by Assam Chief Secretary Ravi Kota, was attended by NFR General Manager Chetan Srivastava and senior officials from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and other agencies. A coordinated restoration strategy was drawn up and joint operations were launched immediately.
Currently, over 25 heavy machinery units, including excavators and dumpers, and around 200 labourers are working round-the-clock at the site. Senior railway officers, including the Divisional Railway Manager of Lumding, are supervising operations on-site.
Restoration teams are prioritizing stabilization of the hillside, which is still shifting under the pressure of ongoing rainfall. Nearly 25,000 cubic meters of muck and debris need to be cleared before track repairs can begin. Officials said protective measures will also be implemented to prevent future landslides.
In the meantime, the NFR has cancelled or partially cancelled several train services as a safety precaution. These include long-distance services such as the Guwahati–Silchar Express, Rangiya–Silchar Express, Tejas Rajdhani Express, and several others connecting northeastern states to key cities like Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Secunderabad.
Partial cancellations involve short-terminations and altered origin points for trains including the Sealdah–Silchar Kaziranga Express, SMVT Bengaluru–Agartala Express, and Agartala–Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Express, among others.
Railway authorities have urged passengers to follow official communication channels for updates on train schedules and restoration progress.
