TURA: South Garo Hills District was on Thursday cut off from West Garo Hills after rising waters washed away the already weak Dumnikura timber bridge located on NH-62, the highway directly connecting the two districts.
The washing away of the bridge is bound to affect the functioning of various departments in South Garo Hills as many of the employees are from West Garo Hills who travel back and forth to work. A live video of the bridge being washed away has already gone viral on social media, where people on both sides can be seen running for safety as the bridge gave way to the powerful torrents.
According to West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner, Ram Singh, the washing away of the bridge since early Thursday morning has led to the closure of NH-62 and the PWD (Roads) Department is looking for options to keep Baghmara connected.
“The department is making efforts to connect Baghmara from Nengkhra-Siju-Karukol side, Chokpot-Siju side and parallel road from Ramchenga/Dumnikura to Dalu,” Ram Singh said adding, the arrangement was only for light vehicles due to weak bridge at Gasuapara.
Meanwhile, his counterpart from South Garo Hills, Deputy Commissioner, H B Marak informed that the PWD Department has been instructed to look into it even as he added that the restoration of the bridge would take time as the entire section was washed away.
With regard to travel to the district especially by employees from outside who work in various departments in the district, Marak said that they can still use the Williamnagar-Siju-Baghmara route, which also happens to be the much preferred one due to the deplorable condition of the road via Dalu.