From Our Correspondent
TURA: A chunk of the road currently under repair on National Highway 51 connecting Paikan to Tura was washed away by heavy rains in Asananggre village, 18 kms from Tura, early Monday morning.
Heavy rains have been lashing the Garo Hills districts since Friday and the extensive downpour was at its peak late Sunday night causing landslips, flooding and damage to road communication.
Night buses and cargo trucks coming into Tura from Shillong and Guwahati were left stranded at Asananggre early in the morning after a chunk of the box culvert leading up to a new bridge under construction got washed away by the rain water flowing down from the nearby hills.
“The road was cut off around 5 AM to all kinds of traffic and by 5 PM a portion had been restored allowing small vehicles to ply. However, heavy transport including night buses have been suspended from travel on the road for the time being,” said Deputy Commissioner P Bakshi.
Passengers travelling to Tura had a harrowing time early morning as they reached Asananggre, unable to move their vehicles further. They had to trudge in knee-deep slush and mud carrying their luggage to get across and hire local sumos and autorickshaws to get to Tura.
Flood waters also threatened to wreck havoc in Garobadha town, 35 kms from Tura, during Sunday night. Incessant rains caused the Ganol river to swell and rise above the danger mark causing panic in the low-lying areas of the town. A halt to the rains on Monday morning brought much respite as the flood waters began to recede.
The district administration has not ruled not damage to standing crops due to inundation from the flood waters in the plain belt region of Garobadha and its adjoining areas.
West Garo Hills district administration has also informed that the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) which deals with calamities has been made operational to face any eventuality.
Wholesale stockists of food grains have also been directed to maintain sufficient amount of ration for distribution to the affected people, if any.