Imphal, August 12: Though the landslide on NH-39 between Mao and Tadubi occurred just a few days back throwing traffic on the highway off the gear, the very portion where the landslide occurred bore tell signs of things to come a good 45 days back with the road beginning to sink.

The problem is further compounded by the fact that the landslide occurred at a very steep part of the highway.

At the moment bull dozers and Shaktimans are pressed into service to pile up hill sand on the sunken part to help the vehicles cross the part.

The drive over this 100 feet stretch is hazardous and it takes at least 30 minutes to cover this distance.

The exact spot where the landslide has occurred is a place called Kaibei located about 6 kms from Mao towards Imphal.

Drivers and transporters who were on their way to Imphal with their goods laden trucks from Dimapur said some of them have been stuck at the spot for the last five days.

Goods trucks continue in from Dimapur and the line of vehicles stranded on the highway now covers about half a kilometer.

Several empty trucks from Imphal are also stranded on the other side covering about 1 km.

At least 200 vehicles are stranded on the highway.

Crossing the spot is a hazardous experience.

If the vehicles do not get stuck in the mud, then it takes 30 minutes to cover the stretch.

As soon as one vehicle crosses the part, then the stretch needs to be repaired again.

GREF personnel and the drivers and others put in their mite and place stones and rocks to facilitate the movement of vehicles over the spot.

Bull dozers from the GREF are pressed into service to push any vehicle which gets stuck in the mud while crossing the stretch.

Passenger buses are given the opportunity to cross first.

Even then passengers have to alight.

Overseer of the 89-RCC GREF, Bijoy Samrao Dhanka who is supervising the repair work said that 20 GREF workers were pressed into service to work on the very stretch of road with bull dozers for the last 45 days.

The Overseer further said that the incessant rain has compounded the matter and the repair work cannot progress smoothly.

If the rain stops then the repair work can be finished in five days time, he added.

The GREF Commander has already inspected the site, said Bijoy and added that a new road will be built by cutting seven metres into the hill side.

At another spot, known as 17.180 km on the Mao side is also in a precarious condition as half of the road has sunk into the deep ravine.

The GREF official said it will take at least another 4/5 days for all the stranded trucks to be able to cross the damaged portion of the highway.

Tamei cutoff: Following a landslide on the Tamei-Tamenglong road and another one at IT Road, Tamei sub-division has been cut off from the rest of the country since August 10.