TURA: Incessant rains for the past 24 hours across the Garo Hills region has brought temperatures crashing even as commuters using the Tura-Dalu highway had a harrowing experience while negotiating the mud and slush on the road which is currently under construction.
A depression over the Bay of Bengal had caused widespread rainfall across the Himalayan region, including Bengal and the north eastern states since Thursday.
Though it has not been a heavy downpour, the continuous drizzle caused temperatures to plummet with even Tura dropping from 28 to 21 degree Celsius overnight.
While no major damage to roads or flooding has been reported, the continuous rain has disrupted ongoing road projects.
A large number of vehicles were piled up at 9th mile, on the Tura-Dalu road, due to the slush causing a blockade for sometime on Friday morning. Several cars, Boleros and Sumo vehicles got dragged into the mud and had to be pushed by pedestrians to break free. A heavy earthmover (JCB) was also pressed into service to pull out some of the vehicles that were unable to move from the middle of the road.
As a precautionary measure, authorities have prohibited the movement of heavy vehicles, such as trucks and buses, on the damaged portion of the highway located at 9th mile in the Kherapara region.
In the light of this inclement weather, the Meghalaya government has also rescheduled its Shillong Autumn Festival-2019 which was due to take place on 26th and 27th. The festival has been moved to the 2nd and 3rd of November.
The ongoing weather phenomenon is expected to ease only by late Saturday, according to weather reports.