GUWAHATI, Aug 13 - Rail connection between the northeastern region and the rest of the country was severed today after heavy rainfall resulted in inundation of railway tracks at several locations in the Katihar and Alipurduar divisions of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR).
NFR officials told The Assam Tribune that no trains from the northeastern states and the North Bengal area can move out of the region and none from the other parts of the country can come to this region.
�Since early morning, train services from the Northeast and North Bengal to the rest of the country and vice versa have totally stopped. The situation is very bad and nothing like this has been witnessed in many years,� an official said.
Railway officials said there has been heavy rainfall in the last 48 hours in Assam and other northeastern states, as well as West Bengal and Bihar, and that resulted in railway operations being severely hampered as rain water submerged railway tracks at several places in Katihar and Alipurduar divisions.
�Railway lines were affected at as many as 12 locations initially, of which seven were already repaired and restored. However, the situation aggravated last night when rain water submerged tracks near Dalkhola, Barsoi and Sudhani stations and resulted in the main line connecting the Northeast with rest of the country being blocked with water under a bridge near Kishanganj station flowing over danger level. As a result, a number of trains had to be stopped at various stations and a number of other trains had to be cancelled or rescheduled or short-terminated,� Pranav Jyoti Sharma, Chief Public Relations Officer of NFR said.
Some of the trains had to be brought back to originating stations or other convenient stations after attending to watering and taking other measures.
