The national highway via Shillong bypass, which remained closed for last five days, is likely to reopen for vehicular traffic on Saturday.
The highway remained closed for traffic following massive landslide on last Saturday at Thangshalai in Meghalaya’s East East Khasi Hills district.
The landslide occurred on Saturday due to the collapse of big stones from a stone quarry near the bypass road.
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has pressed several bulldozers into service to clear the landslide and the road was expected to be cleared by Saturday.
“Works to clear debris of the highway are going on in full swing and movement of vehicles on the bypass road is likely to resume on Saturday,” an NHAI official said.
He said it was a massive landslide and a long stretch of the highway has been blocked, but more than 60 percent of it has been cleared.
“We hope that the remaining portion will be cleared by Friday,” the official said.
Trucks have been stranded on the Shillong bypass since Saturday night, and they are not allowed to divert to the national highway through Shillong city.
The 47-km Shillong bypass begins from Lad Umroi in Ri-Bhoi district to Mawryngkneng in East Khasi district.
The national highway via Shillong bypass is the lifeline for other states in the Northeast such as Tripura, Mizoram, parts of Assam’s Barak Valley, Cachar Hills and parts of Manipur’s Jiribam.