Heavy overnight and early morning rain on Friday triggered multiple landslides along National Highway-2 and the Mokokchung–Chare road (NH 202), buckling a section of the highway near Liroyim and leaving more than 30 vehicles stranded overnight before road connectivity was restored.
The most unusual incident occurred near Liroyim, where a seven-metre stretch of National Highway-2 was pushed upward after a massive landslide struck the area.
Lima Longkumer, Executive Engineer, PWD (National Highways), told MT that the affected stretch had been cleared sufficiently to allow one-way traffic.
According to Alemchuba, Junior Engineer, National Highways, the landslide originated from the cliff above the highway, and the force of the falling debris may have caused the road surface to heave upward.
“The impact was so strong that it seems to have pushed the highway upward,” he said, adding that restoration of the damaged stretch would take time.
The incident occurred around 6 am near Liroyim, according to the maintenance firm’s in-charge.
District officials led by the Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) of Changtongya visited the site on Friday morning and confirmed the incident as a natural disaster.
Following clearance of debris by PWD (National Highways) and the maintenance agency, one-way traffic was restored within about an hour. No injuries or damage to vehicles were reported.
Another landslide along the Akhoya–Unger section of NH-2 also temporarily disrupted traffic. Officials said the debris was cleared promptly, allowing normal movement to resume within an hour.
Meanwhile, two major mudslides along the Mokokchung–Chare intermediate road stranded more than 30 vehicles overnight, including passenger vehicles, trucks carrying essential commodities and pickup trucks transporting live poultry.
Imti, SDO, PWD (National Highways), Tuensang Division, said the mudslides occurred at the 12-km point under Mokokchung jurisdiction, about 900 metres from Dikhu Bridge, and at the 19-km point in Chare under Tuensang district.
He said clearance operations were launched immediately after machinery was deployed to both locations, and normal traffic movement was fully restored by around 8 am on Friday.
