Landslides Again Cripple Lumding–Badarpur Section on Monday; Trains Stranded, Passengers Suffer

What once used to be an annual monsoon woe has now turned into a near-daily crisis for the Lumding–Badarpur hill section. A fresh landslide struck the vulnerable stretch late Sunday night (July 6), between Dihakho and Mupa stations at the 50/2 km mark, once again paralysing rail services through the Dima Hasao hills.

This marks the third major disruption since June 23, when a landslide between Jatinga Lampur and New Haflong (108/7–8 km) shut down rail traffic for seven days. Although services had resumed on 30 June after urgent repair efforts by the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), another landslide on July 3, near Mupa, disrupted operations again.

Heavy and continuous rainfall in the Dima Hasao region has made the already fragile hill section prone to frequent slips. On Saturday (July 5) again, mudslides and falling boulders disrupted multiple train movements near Mupa-Dihakho stations on Sunday. According to sources, the loco pilot of the Rangiya–Silchar Express, running nearly 10 hours behind schedule on Sunday, had allegedly abandoned the train near Maibang Station and fled, worsening the situation.

As of Monday morning, several trains remain stranded for hours:

• Sealdah–Sabroom Kanchanjunga Express at Lumding
• Guwahati–Silchar Express at Manderdisa
• Agartala–Rani Kamalapati Express at Maibang
• Silchar–Rangiya Express at New Haflong
• Humsafar Express at Langting, among others.

NFR has arranged food for stranded passengers and set up help desks at key stations, including Kamakhya, Guwahati, Lumding, New Haflong, Badarpur, Silchar, and Agartala.

Track clearance is reportedly underway, but with landslides occurring almost weekly, questions should be raised over the lack of a long-term solution for this crucial but fragile rail lifeline of Barak Valley and even states including Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur.