The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), which operates in the northeastern states and parts of West Bengal and Bihar, has taken a series of measures to ensure the smooth running of trains during the rainy season.

Every year during monsoon, several northeastern states, especially Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, and southern Assam, remain cut off from the rest of the country for weeks owing to landslides, waterlogging, and damage to railway tracks, leading to hardships for the people of the region.

NFR’s Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Sabyasachi De said the authorities have formulated a detailed strategy for the safety of railway tracks during the monsoon.

As part of the preparations, collection of materials at sensitive places, cleaning drainage systems, waterways of bridges, and marking the danger levels on the bridges have been completed, he said.

The NFR has also deployed patrolling teams to keep a check on more than 6,400 Km of railway tracks in its jurisdiction for any defect that may arise due to heavy rainfall.

He said that in addition to patrolling teams, stationary watchmen have also been appointed in the sensitive areas, i.e., sites prone to landslides, and bridges where water is flowing near danger levels.

De said that despite precautions, there can be occasions when bridges are washed out, embankments are breached, along with landslides.

To face such a situation and to carry out restoration within the minimum possible time, materials like boulders, sand, sandbags, various pre-fabricated components of bridges, etc., are being loaded in wagons and placed at the strategic locations, he said.

The CPRO said the monsoon season is quite challenging as NFR operates in a difficult terrain close to the foothills of the lower Himalayan ranges, carved by turbulent streams, and fed by heavy rainfall reaching up to about 7,000 mm in a year.

The Southwest monsoon period normally starts in mid-May and continues till mid-October except in the mountainous Lumding division, where the monsoon starts in mid-April.