Damage in Dima Hasao may cost Rs 1,000 crore: Jogen Mohan, Bimal Borah

Many interior areas remain cut-off from Haflong

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The exact extent of the damage caused by floods and landslides in the Dima Hasao district will take some time to assess, but preliminary estimates indicate that the damage caused to infrastructure could go up to around Rs 1,000 crore in financial terms.

The fact that the district has a challenging topography, replete with terrain that is difficult to access during the monsoon season, is making it difficult to carry out on-the-spot surveys in certain interior areas.

Two Cabinet Ministers of the State, Jogen Mohan and Bimal Borah, have been camping in Haflong since yesterday. They have been witnessing scenes of utter devastation during their visits to various areas of the district.

Talking to The Sentinel, Bimal Borah said, "We reached Haflong yesterday as soon as the road link with Haflong re-opened. We have visited many areas and seen large-scale damage to infrastructure – mainly roads and bridges - due to flood and landslides. Railway tracks have been badly damaged as well,"

Borah said that reports regarding the extent of damages caused by nature's fury are yet to be received from many interior areas and, hence, actual estimate of the extent of damages will take some time.

"However, from what we have seen with our own eyes, the cost of the damage may be as high as Rs 1,000 crore," he said.

Borah said the State Government is supplying food grains to Haflong town via IAF helicopters for onward transportation to areas affected by floods and landslides.

Meanwhile, Haflong MLA and Executive Member of the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council, Nandita Garlosa, told The Sentinel that although connectivity has resumed via light vehicles up to Haflong town, but heavy vehicles still cannot travel up to Haflong. Surface communication with many interior areas is still disrupted, but the district administration is trying to send food supplies to these areas, she said.

Meanwhile, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has informed the State Government that it would take around 45 days to repair the badly-damaged railway track on the Lumding-Haflong-Badarpur route. However, local people are skeptical about this deadline, saying that the damage is too severe to be repaired within 45 days.

It may be mentioned that the State Government's main cause of concern at this point is restoration of the disrupted railway connectivity, because it is the lifeline of the food supply chain to the Barak Valley as well as some neighbouring Northeastern States.

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