Fresh Landslide Delays Restoration Work on New Harangajao Railway Section

 Haflong, August 1: Restoration work on the damaged railway tracks near New Harangajao station suffered another setback after a fresh landslide triggered by heavy overnight rainfall on Friday.

The latest landslide has further complicated efforts by the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) to restore the damaged No. 1 and No. 2 railway lines. Railway authorities have been working round the clock to refill the eroded section with soil, boulders and other construction materials in an effort to restore the tracks at the earliest. However, continuous rainfall caused a large portion of the newly filled earth to collapse again, significantly delaying the ongoing repair work.

According to railway sources, a major section of the embankment beneath the tracks near New Harangajao station had been washed away by heavy rains several days ago, leading to severe damage to the railway infrastructure. Since then, teams of engineers, technical experts and workers have been engaged in an intensive restoration operation.

The fresh landslide on Friday night has undone much of the progress achieved over the past few days, forcing railway authorities to restart parts of the restoration work.

Officials said the persistent rainfall and unstable hill slopes have emerged as the biggest challenges to the repair operation. Repeated soil erosion has made it necessary to adopt additional safety measures to ensure the long-term stability of the railway track. If adverse weather conditions continue, the completion of restoration work may be delayed further.

Train services on the Lumding–Badarpur hill section have remained severely disrupted for nearly ten days following the landslide. Several passenger trains have been cancelled, partially operated or rescheduled, causing immense inconvenience to thousands of passengers.

Students, office-goers, businesspersons and people travelling for medical and other urgent purposes have been among the worst affected by the prolonged disruption.

Railway authorities said they are closely monitoring the weather and making every effort to restore the damaged section and resume normal train services at the earliest. However, they cautioned that continued heavy rainfall in the hill region could further extend the timeline for completing the restoration work.