AGARTALA, Aug 22 - With floods ravaging West Bengal and Bihar, train services between north-eastern States and the rest of India remained cut off for the 11th day on Tuesday, affecting supply of essential commodities to the region, an official said on Tuesday.
The North East Frontier Railway (NFR), which serves seven districts in West Bengal and five districts in north Bihar besides the north-eastern States, is working on a war footing to restore railway services, said the official.
NFR�s Chief Public Relations Officer Pranav Jyoti Sharma said: �Floods in Assam, north Bengal and north Bihar have snapped railway links between the North-east and the rest of the country since August 12.�
All the trains between north-eastern States and the rest of India pass through New Jalpaiguri station in north Bengal and Katihar station in Bihar.
He said that currently the railway networks were badly damaged in Kishanganj, Katihar and Araria districts of Bihar. �As per the engineering estimate, full connectivity cannot be restored before August 28,� he added.
Another NFR official said due to cancellations of trains followed by cancellation of tickets, the NFR had suffered a loss of over Rs 550 crore so far.
Tripura Food, Civil supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Bhanulal Saha said they were in touch with the NFR to ferry goods to Tripura from the other parts of the country.
�The railway services between the North-east and rest of India are likely to be restored by the first week of September,� Saha told IANS.
