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Landslides block Meghalaya Highway

          Sonapur (Meghalaya): Tripura, Mizoram and parts of Assam have been cut off from the rest of the country by landslides which blocked the National Highway-44 for the fifth consecutive day on Thursday. The highway was blocked at nine kms from Sonapur in Meghalaya as it rained heavily. Two hundred workers are working round-the-clock, under the guidance of the Border Road Task Force (BRTF), with heavy machineries to remove mud and rubbles from a stretch of 300-meter of road. "As the road is closed, people are trying to cross it on foot. But, it is very slippery as it is raining. Work is on to clear the road but we don't know when it will be completed," said Rupen Das, a resident. Dozens of trucks and other heavy vehicles carrying goods have been stranded on either side of the blockage. The drivers of these vehicles are a dispirited lot, since they have run out of money to buy food and roadside vendors have started charging them too high a price for essentials. "Mud and rocks are falling on the road. Food is so expensive here, we cannot afford it," said Sujit Paul, a truck driver. According to officials, the road could be opened for normal traffic only once the rains stop.
- August 30,  2007