AIZAWL: Train services on Mizoram’s Bairabi-Sairang railway line were temporarily disrupted after heavy rain caused waterlogging and muck overflow along parts of the track, an official said on Thursday.The disruption was reported particularly between Kawnpui and Mualkhang, prompting railway authorities to modify and suspend some services as a precaution, he said.Northeast Frontier Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Kapinjal Kishore Sharma said the disruption was temporary and 20 buses had been deployed at Bairabi to ferry passengers of affected trains to Sairang or Aizawl.Four trains were short-terminated en route on Wednesday. The Silchar-Sairang and Kolkata-Sairang trains were terminated at Bairabi near the Assam border, while the Sairang-Kolkata and Guwahati-Sairang trains were terminated at Hailakandi in Assam, Sharma said.The railway also cancelled the Sairang-Guwahati Express scheduled to depart on September 30 and the Sairang-Silchar Express scheduled for October 1, he said.The Sairang-Kolkata Express scheduled for October 1 will originate from Hailakandi, Sharma said, adding that passengers of the Kolkata-Sairang and Silchar-Sairang trains were transported by buses on Wednesday.Officials said there was no report of landslides or subsidence on the railway track and services were expected to resume soon.The 51.38-km Bairabi-Sairang railway line, including Sairang station located around 21 km from Aizawl, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 13 last year.The project, built at a cost of over Rs 8,000 crore, connected Mizoram to the railway network for the first time.Heavy rain has also been reported from several parts of Mizoram, including Aizawl, since Wednesday evening, triggering landslides and rockfalls at several places, officials said.No casualties have been reported in the incidents so far, they said.According to a bulletin issued by the Aizawl Meteorological Centre on Wednesday, Mamit recorded the highest rainfall in the state during the preceding 24 hours at 69.6 mm, followed by Siaha at 46.5 mm and Tlabung town in Lunglei district at 39 mm.Aizawl received 12.2 mm of rainfall during the period.The weather office forecast moderate to heavy rain accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning at several places in Mamit, Kolasib, Lunglei and Aizawl districts on Thursday.Light to moderate rain with thunderstorms and lightning was also expected in parts of Saitual, Serchhip, Khawzawl, Champhai, Hnahthial, Siaha and Lawngtlai districts, it said.
