Mizoram railway services were temporarily disrupted after heavy rain caused waterlogging and muck overflow along parts of the Bairabi-Sairang line, prompting Northeast Frontier Railway to modify and suspend trains as a precaution.
The disruption was reported particularly between Kawnpui and Mualkhang. Northeast Frontier Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Kapinjal Kishore Sharma said 20 buses had been deployed at Bairabi to transport passengers from affected trains to Sairang or Aizawl.
Four trains were short-terminated en route on Wednesday. The Silchar-Sairang and Kolkata-Sairang trains were terminated at Bairabi, near the Assam border, while the Sairang-Kolkata and Guwahati-Sairang trains were terminated at Hailakandi in Assam, Sharma said.
The railway cancelled the Sairang-Guwahati Express scheduled to depart on September 30 and the Sairang-Silchar Express scheduled for October 1. The Sairang-Kolkata Express scheduled for October 1 will originate from Hailakandi instead, according to the railway official. Passengers travelling on the Kolkata-Sairang and Silchar-Sairang trains were transported by buses on Wednesday.
Officials said there was no report of landslides or subsidence on the railway track. Railway services were expected to resume soon, although the disruption followed wider reports of heavy rain, landslides and rockfalls in several parts of Mizoram. No casualties had been reported in those incidents.
The 51.38-km Bairabi-Sairang railway line includes Sairang station, located around 21 km from Aizawl. The line was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 13 last year and connected Mizoram to India’s railway network for the first time. The project was built at a cost of more than Rs 8,000 crore.
The weather disruption also affected several districts. An Aizawl Meteorological Centre bulletin said Mamit recorded 69.6 mm of rain in the preceding 24 hours, the highest in the state, followed by Siaha with 46.5 mm and Tlabung town in Lunglei district with 39 mm. Aizawl received 12.2 mm during the same period.
The weather office forecast moderate to heavy rain with thunderstorms and lightning in parts of Mamit, Kolasib, Lunglei and Aizawl districts. Light to moderate rain with thunderstorms and lightning was also expected in parts of Saitual, Serchhip, Khawzawl, Champhai, Hnahthial, Siaha and Lawngtlai districts. Railway authorities were expected to restore services after assessing conditions along the affected section.
