SHILLONG, Oct 6 � A landslide on National Highway 40 (Guwahati-Shillong Road) has claimed the life of a person and left others with minor injuries after a hillock with loose soil and boulders slid down on the highway last night.
The mishap occurred at Umling in Ri-Bhoi district. The victim has been identified as D Bahadur from Nagaland. Rocks and soil buried his car, killing him. There were other vehicles which were pushed from the highway by the landslide, but the occupants escaped with minor injuries, police said.
The entire stretch of the highway is undergoing expansion work and is being four-laned for some years now and there has been massive earth cutting on both sides of the highway.
Although the weather has been good for the past few days, the incessant rain in the past week and the construction work seem to have left the highway in a dangerous state at several stretches.
On several occasions in the past there have been landslides at different stretches of the highway, but fortunately there was no loss of life until last night.
Moreover, the project has been facing numerous problems as there have been hurdles in procuring land. The National Highway Authority of India is tasked with completing the project of four-laning a stretch of 61.80 km.
Meanwhile, the landslide kept traffic at a standstill for several hours and eventually was opened for traffic late last night and the entire debris removed this morning with the district administration of Ri-Bhoi putting into use several earthmovers to clear the debris.
