Trains on tracks in 8 days

TT, Aug. 19: At least eight more days will be needed to restore full train connectivity to flood-hit north Bengal and Guwahati if there is no further heavy rainfall, officials of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) said today.

Water has started receding from the submerged areas of North and South Dinajpur. River water has started receding in Assam too as rain in both north Bengal and the Northeast has decreased.

Train services to north Bengal and the Northeast have been suspended for the past six days because of floods and resultant track damage between Barsoi in Bihar and Dalkhola in North Dinajpur, a chicken's neck corridor where the tracks zigzag through bordering areas of Bengal and Bihar.

Moderate rainfall is forecast in the next two-three days in north Bengal and the amount is not expected to worsen the flood situation.

A senior NFR official said: "Restoration work is being done on a war footing. Engineers feel full connectivity cannot be restored before August 28."

Seventy-seven trains, including the Rajdhani, the Shatabdi and the Darjeeling Mail, that travel to and from north Bengal and the Northeast have not been operating for the past six days.

"From today, a special train will run between Howrah and Raiganj (in North Dinajpur). This service will continue for the next two-three days," another NFR official said.

"A direct train service was also introduced between Dalkhola and Dibrugarh today. Special trains are running between Dalkhola and Guwahati," an NFR source said.

Bihar's Kishanganj station has been made available for loading of essential commodities and other goods bound for north Bengal and the Northeast. "Traders can bring their items by road to Kishanganj station, where the goods can be loaded onto rakes," the NFR source said.

The source said those travelling to Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar from Calcutta and other places in south Bengal can take a train till Malda or Raiganj and from there proceed in a bus.

Water has receded from most stretches of National Highway 34, which connects Calcutta airport to Dalkhola and is the main highway to north Bengal.

NDRF personnel, aided by volunteers from NGOs, are carrying out rescue and relief operations in the two Dinajpurs, the districts worst affected by the floods.

Many stranded people, however, complained of inadequate and erratic distribution of relief materials.