Shillong, July 16: Torrential rainfall has caused severe landslides in various parts of Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills and West Khasi Hills districts, as traffic was restored along National Highway 44 in Jaintia Hills district, connecting Tripura, Mizoram and parts of Manipur and Assam.

For the past three days, heavy rainfall lashed the state leading to landslides along National Highway 44 from Tongseng to Sunapur, severely hampering the flow of traffic.

“Landslide debris blocking certain portions of the highway was partially removed on Sunday night. The PWD workers managed to clear the debris today after which traffic was restored,” an official of Jaintia Hills district said.

Intense soil erosion occurred on the banks of Umngi in Balat, along the Indo-Bangladesh border in the West Khasi Hills under Ranikor block.

While no casualty has been reported, some families have been rendered homeless because of the erosion.

K.K. Dewsaw, secretary of Balat village, said the soil erosion affected around eight houses.

“Since 2009, the river has been creating havoc and 55 houses have been damaged in the past three years. While officials from the Brahmaputra Board had visited the place to assess the damages caused by Umngi last year, till date nothing has been done to prevent further loss of property,” he said.

Further, the Balat-Bakli Road connecting villages falling under Balat with Mawsynram and Shillong was also clogged by landslides.

“Until restoration of the road link is completed, no vehicles will be allowed to ply through the stretch,” an official said.

Another landslide occurred on the Rangthong-Ngunraw stretch under the West Khasi Hills district.

An official from the West Khasi Hills said the formation of the road was washed away by the landslide, which has affected connectivity in the area.