Cloudburst-triggered flooding from Nagaland leaves estates marooned, major trains cancelled and thousands of tea workers displaced
Dibrugarh, July 20: Floods triggered by incessant rain and a cloudburst in neighbouring Nagaland have dealt a double blow to Upper Assam, crippling railway connectivity and submerging vast stretches of tea estates in Sivasagar district, forcing thousands of workers to flee their homes.
Rail services across Upper Assam were thrown into disarray after rising waters of the Dikhow River inundated the Simalguri railway yard, prompting the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) to suspend train movement on the Simalguri–Namti Ali and Simalguri–Seleng Hat sections on safety grounds.
The disruption has affected several long-distance trains, including the Dibrugarh–New Delhi Rajdhani Express, Dibrugarh–Kanyakumari Vivek Express, Dibrugarh–Chandigarh Express, Kamrup Express, Nagaland Express, and Intercity Express, as well as some passenger and DEMU services. Two passenger specials—the Lumding–Jorhat Town Passenger Special and Ledo–Sivasagar Town Special—have also been cancelled or curtailed.
NFR has advised passengers to check the latest train status before travelling, saying services will resume only after floodwaters recede and the affected tracks are declared safe.
The floods have also devastated the tea-growing belt of Nazira subdivision in Sivasagar district, where rivers originating in Nagaland swelled beyond the danger mark following the cloudburst. The breach of the Dorika River embankment worsened the situation, inundating almost all tea estates in the area.
In a statement, the Tea Association of India (TAI), Assam Branch, described the situation as unprecedented, saying workers’ quarters, estate hospitals, schools, roads and other essential infrastructure remain submerged.
Thousands of tea workers and their families have been evacuated from flooded labour lines and shifted to factory buildings, managers’ bungalows and other elevated structures within the estates.
Among the worst-hit is Bamonpookrie Tea Estate, where a pregnant tea worker delivered her baby inside the factory after floodwaters made it impossible to reach a hospital. Another expectant mother also required urgent medical assistance, underscoring the humanitarian crisis unfolding across the flood-hit tea belt.
Despite the difficult conditions, tea estate managements arranged temporary shelters, cooked food, drinking water and other emergency supplies for displaced workers, while estate staff worked round the clock to ensure their safety.
The Tea Association of India also praised the Sivasagar district administration and disaster response agencies for carrying out rescue operations, evacuating stranded residents and ensuring timely medical assistance.
However, the association cautioned that the crisis is far from over, noting that restoring drinking water, electricity, roads, healthcare facilities and workers’ housing will require sustained rehabilitation efforts.
With rail connectivity disrupted and the tea industry’s heartland under water, the floods have exposed the vulnerability of Upper Assam’s transport and plantation sectors to extreme weather events, even as relief and rescue operations continue.
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