Itanagar: Surface communication along the road linking Arunachal Pradesh’s Changlang town to Assam’s Margherita has been disrupted after a portion of the Margherita-Changlang road collapsed due to heavy rainfall, prompting the district administration to restrict the vehicular movement along the said road stretch, official sources said on Wednesday.
“A portion of Margherita-Changlang road near Rangfrah Shiv Mandir, about 19 km from the district headquarters, Changlang, has been washed out due to a massive landslide triggered by heavy rainfall,” Changlang Deputy Commissioner Sunny K Singh said.
The Margherita-Changlang road is considered as the lifeline of people of the southern Arunachal Pradesh district.
Considering public safety, the District Magistrate, meanwhile, in a bid to avert any untoward happening ordered to prohibit movement of all kinds of vehicles in the above stretch of road with immediate effect until further orders.
He asked the district Superintendent of Police to keep a 24×7 vigil and ensure compliance with his ‘order’ until road restoration was completed.
Moreover, he directed the PWD Changlang Division Executive Engineer to “make every effort for fast restoration of the said road”.
The DM suggested the commuters, especially those who are in medical emergencies, take the Changlang-Khonsa-Deomali route to proceed to neighbouring Assam, the sources added.