Assam: Three killed as heavy rain triggers floods and landslides
The rainfall has damaged railway tracks across Assam leading to cancellation of trains.

At least three people have died and over 56,500 residents have been affected in seven districts of Assam because of floods caused by incessant rain, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority said on Sunday.
The disaster management body said that those killed belonged to one family and were buried in a landslide in the Haflong town of Dima Hasao district on Saturday, according to The Indian Express. Three other residents are missing from the Cachar district.
#WATCH | Assam floods: Borolia river in Tamulpur district washes away a bamboo bridge pic.twitter.com/LgphSzZPH3
— ANI (@ANI) May 15, 2022
“The rain has triggered multiple landslides across the district,” an unidentified official of the disaster management body said, according to The Indian Express. “Major roads are damaged and railway tracks have been washed away. An RCC building collapsed, burying a family of three alive on Saturday.”
The state of Assam, along with Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, has been receiving heavy rainfall since Saturday.
An orange alert was issued by the Regional Meteorological Centre in Guwahati for the three states until May 17. An orange alert warns authorities to be prepared to tackle intense rainfall.
Rail and road connectivity hit
The heavy rainfall and landslides have eroded sections of roads and railway tracks across Assam, according to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority.
“Railway line at Jatinga-Harangajao and Mahur-Phaiding was blocked due to landslides,” the body said in a release. “Before reaching Maibang tunnel at Geremlambra village, the road is likely to be blocked due to landslides.”
Seventeen trains were cancelled or partially cancelled due to damage to tracks and bridges at 26 locations, according to Hindustan Times.
Around 1000 passengers of 15616 Exp stranded at Ditokcherra have been brought up to the spl train on the other side of the damaged bridge from here the train has moved to Damchara where food and water has been provided. This special train will depart for Badarpur @RailMinIndia pic.twitter.com/0ND75LXv7v
— Northeast Frontier Railway (@RailNf) May 15, 2022
As many as 1,245 passengers of the Silchar-Guwahati train were evacuated after the train was stranded due to a broken railway bridge near Ditokcherra town.
“At Ditokcherra, about 1,000 people were guided across a broken railway bridge to reach a special evacuation train on foot,” Sabyasachi De, chief public relations officer of the Northeast Frontier Railway said, according to The Indian Express. “Older passengers who were not able to cross the bridge by themselves were airlifted.”
Airlift by Indian Air Force is in progress @IAF_MCC @ANI @IndianExpress @TOIIndiaNews @karishmahasnat @Barasha_mi2 @DY365 @PIB_Guwahati @PTI_News @NorthEastnews24 @ndtv https://t.co/FzUxyDPcJt pic.twitter.com/m6OXnrne7z
— Northeast Frontier Railway (@RailNf) May 15, 2022
Similarly, around 1,400 passengers of the Guwahati-Silchar passenger train were stranded at New Halflong town in the Dima Hasao district, Hindustan Times reported.
“We employed 4 buses to take most of these passengers to Maibong from where they are being taken to Guwahati by train,” De said.
Stranded passenger at New Haflong station are being moved to Maibang station by buses. From Maibang relief train connectivity up to Guwahati has been provided. @RailMinIndia @ANI @PIB_Guwahati @PIBAgartala @ddnews_guwahati @ddnewsagartala @airnews_ghy @airnews_silchar @silcharNOW pic.twitter.com/JgGMsAlccG
— Northeast Frontier Railway (@RailNf) May 15, 2022
Four killed in Arunachal Pradesh
Meanwhile, two persons died in Arunachal Pradesh’s Itanagar after their house was hit by a landslide due to incessant rainfall, PTI reported.
In a separate incident, two public work department labourers died after being swept away in a landslide at Ganga-Jully Basti Road while trying to extricate a motorcycle stuck in the mud, Superintendent of Police Jimmy Chiram told PTI. They also died, taking the death count to four persons.