Assam Floods: Train Stranded; After Walking for 3 Days, We Were Finally Rescued

On 13 May, I was travelling in a train for Silchar from Guwahati through Haflong, and were caught in the floods.

Assam floods: Rescued after three days of walking after my train was stranded.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Video Producer: Maaz Hasan

Video Editor: Prajjwal Kumar

Floods in Assam have affected over 6 lakh people in the state. Several districts have submerged in the floodwater due to heavy rainfall.

On 13 May, I was travelling by train, which got stranded midway due to floods.

Around 11:30 pm, we started our journey for Silchar from Guwahati through Haflong via train. We reached Haflong next morning at 8:40 am and the train was not able to move further, so we had to stop there.

Route from Silchar to Guwahati.

(Photo Courtesy: Google Maps)

Damaged railway routes.

(Photo Courtesy: Dipanjan Deb)

Damaged roads due to the landslide.

(Photo Courtesy: Dipanjan Deb)

Due to the rainfall, tracks were damaged. By afternoon, the news came that the train would not move any further as the tracks were completely damaged. We were told to wait or else head back to Guwahati.

Damaged railway tracks.

(Photo Courtesy: Dipanjan Deb)

I decided to wait at the Haflong railway station but the weather conditions didn't improve.

I was travelling with a few of my friends. Everyone was saying that we should move forward. We started for Harangajao. First, we had to reach Jatinga. This journey was one of those journeys I would not want to go back in time and recollect.

Route from Haflong to Harangajao.

(Photo Courtesy: Google Maps)

The tunnel between the two cities.

(Photo Courtesy: Dipanhan Deb)

I can only say, we managed to succeed. Initially, we crossed a tunnel that was 3-3.5 km long. We had to cross more than 18 such tunnels to reach our destination. The moment we reached Harangajao, we were hoping that there would be some possibility to travel but everything was washed away. Even on the journey (to Harangajao) we would see constant landslides amidst heavy rain.

'Finally Reached Evacuation Site'

Locals there informed us about evacuation taking place from Ditokcherra.
So, we started walking for Ditokcherra by covering a distance more than 8 km. We could see chopper of the Indian Air Force for evacuation.

They were trying to evacuate everyone, but that was impossible given the weather conditions. So, first they tried to evacuate kids, elderly people, and women from the place. They said it wasn't possible for them to evacuate everyone and people who are in a condition to move forward should walk and reach to the plains.

Rescue work happening at the affected site.

(Photo Courtesy: Dipanjan Deb)

On Monday, I reached Damcherra to board a train and we were finally rescued by the afternoon.

The current condition of the state is not good due to heavy rainfall, landslides, and floods. We are under red alert and the weather forecast says that there would be constant rainfall for the next seven-eight days.

We have no idea what we are going to see in the coming days. Just pray for us, for the speedy recovery of the people, and hope there would be sunshine and things would be sorted out very soon.

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