GUWAHATI: Traffic movement on National Highway 27 at Jorabat in Guwahati, which had come to a grinding halt since Sunday evening, has largely returned to normal after nearly 20 hours.
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Heavy rainfall on Sunday triggered flash floods and severe waterlogging at Jorabat, 9th Mile and 10th Mile, prompting the Guwahati Traffic Police to issue immediate traffic diversions that disrupted vehicular movement in the area.
Light motor vehicles (LMVs) travelling towards Guwahati were diverted at Digaru, while those heading out of the city were diverted at Koinadhara Point. Motorists leaving Guwahati were also advised to use the Narengi route as an alternative to avoid the flood-affected stretch.
Thousands of trucks and other commercial vehicles remained stranded on the affected stretch of the national highway overnight, with drivers and crew members sleeping inside their vehicles.
A landslide near 9th Mile, along with waterlogging and silt flowing onto the highway from the Meghalaya side, made traffic movement nearly impossible.
"Since around 4 PM yesterday, traffic movement at Jorabat had stalled. It was only around 1 PM today that the traffic movement normalised," a police official at Jorabat Output told GPlus.
"There is a possibility that a similar situation may unfold even today," the official said, referring to the continuing heavy rainfall.
The official added that no long-distance buses were able to complete their scheduled journeys through the affected stretch.
"A few have possibly taken the alternate route via Tezpur," the official said.
Asked whether any accidents or other untoward incidents had been reported over the past 24 hours, the official said, "Fortunately, there have hardly been any such reports.