Continuous 46-hour rainfall creates havoc on NH 39

Kohima, May 16 (UNI) Continuous rainfall in Nagaland, which started early on Monday and halted last night, triggered landslides in many areas on National Highway 39.

Official sources here today said that a large portion of the Highway had collapsed near Naga Hospital, near here, yesterday, bringing traffic to a standstill for several hours. NH 39, which connects Nagaland and Manipur to the rest of the country, is a vital lifeline of the states.

Border Road Task Force(BRTF) personnel, after hours of work, cleared the road for traffic in the afternoon.

A chain of vehicles were stranded for hours on the Highway.

Sources said that there was heavy landslide on the Highway in the Mao and Karong areas of Senapati district of Manipur, bordering Nagaland, bringing vehicular movement to a grinding halt.

Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, who had inaugurated the new site of Peren district headquarters yesterday, was also stranded for hours on the Dimapur-Peren road due to the incident.

The scheduled inaugural function was also delayed.

Many of his Cabinet colleagues, legislators, senior bureaucrats and reporters, who were to attend the function, could not reach the spot.

UNI