Silchar – Guwahati Express: Indian Air Force airlifts 119 stranded passengers; 1000 passengers evacuated by special train

Indian Air Force has successfully evacuated 119 passengers of Silchar – Guwahati train that got stranded at Ditokcherra. The NF Railways had sought the help of the Indian Air Force to rescue the stranded passengers who weren’t able to walk to the other side of the damaged bridge from where the special rescue train was supposed to depart.

Eventually, after conducting a feasibility study, the IAF identified a landing spot and started the rescue operations. The choppers airlifted passengers and dropped them to Silchar Airport in Kumbirgram. There the Cachar district administration organised transportation to drop passengers to Silchar from where they can go to their respective destination.

Speaking with Barak Bulletin, Keerthi Jalli, Deputy Commissioner of Cachar said, “We had floods simultaneously with Meghalaya water run off affecting Katigorah and NC Hills runoff affecting Borkhola with road connectivity being disrupted in Balacherra and trains being stranded at Ditokcherra all simultaneously. We had to mobilise manpower immediately but also reached out to SDRF, NDRF, Assam Rifles, BSF and Air Force as many areas needed simultaneous attention. We thank all organisations for their support. Request public to avoid travel as much as possible as MET is predicting turbulent weather for the next 10 days.”

The 15616 Silchar Guwahati Express got stranded in Ditokcherra with 1600 passengers on board due to landslides and damaged tracks in NC Hills.

Anshul Gupta, General Manager, NF Railways himself visited the breach sites to take stock of the damages. “Nearing the completion of evacuating passengers, NF Railway is now aimed at early restoration of the line connecting Tripura and Cachar hill district of Assam. Around 1000 passengers of 15616 Exp stranded at Ditokcherra have been brought up to the special train on the other side of the damaged bridge from where the train has moved towards Damcherra where food and water has been provided,” tweeted the NF Rail.

The North East Frontier Railway has informed that the evacuation special train has reached Silchar and after a final count it has been seen that a total of 1245 passengers have been evacuated successfully by train. And the rest of the passengers have been Airlifted to Silchar Airport.

The railway communication is being severely affected due to the heavy rainfall in the valley and in the hill areas, the road communication too has been disrupted heavily as thousands of vehicles and commuters  are stranded in near Ratacherra.