Dibrugarh: For 700 flood-displaced families of upper Assam, the national highway was never meant to be home. Neither were the railway tracks. Yet, for nearly 10 days, that’s where they have been taking shelter, caught between speeding traffic and rising waters.Families from Singibil Sontolisiga, Hatighuli, Duarapar Kakatigaon, Santipar, Padumoni and Barotigaon sought refuge on NH-2 after floods submerged their homes. Children played near speeding trucks, cattle were tethered to roadside barriers, and families slept under tarpaulins.Though relief camps were operating nearby, villagers stayed on the highway because the facilities lacked space for livestock — their most valuable assets and primary source of livelihood.“Every evening, as traffic roared past just a few feet away, parents worried less about sleep and more about ensuring their children did not wander onto the road. Families lived with the constant fear of accidents, yet they had no other option,” said Gayatri Bora, a homemaker living on the highway.Flash floods struck parts of Sivasagar on July 19, and Singibil Sontolisiga was submerged by July 21. Bora escaped with her husband and 14-year-old son.“He would go out to play on the highway. That frightened me more than anything else.”Pinku Nath lost two cows, nearly 30 ducks and several poultry birds, but rescued two cows that sustain his family.“There is a huge risk in living on the highway, but I cannot leave the cows. They are my livelihood,” he said.Each morning, Nath returns home to clear mud and silt before coming back to the highway.Village headman Sarat Nath said relief materials were being distributed along the roadside.“The highway is not a place to live, but people want to keep their cattle, ducks and poultry with them. They are emotionally attached to them because they survived together, and these animals are their livelihood,” he said.Near Simaluguri, elevated railway embankments also sheltered families after floodwaters washed away earth beneath a 100-metre stretch of the tracks, severing Morioni-Sivasagar rail connectivity. Officials said restoration could take 10 days, with 15 locations damaged.“Railway tracks are usually built on higher ground. Though people are normally not allowed to stay there, during this disaster we did not force anyone to leave because those embankments helped save many lives,” a railway official said.
