Monday, 14 June 2010 22:29 Salai Han Thar San
New Delhi (Mizzima) – District bulldozers early this evening cleared a massive landslide that had for 17 hours blocked the country’s only road to Bangladesh and a vital trade link, the Buthidaung-Maungdaw road in Arakan State, a resident and officials said.
Torrential rain led to the collapse about halfway along the road on the approach to the Tawgaunggyi tunnel, blocking the 16-mile (26 kilometre) highway from about 11 p.m. on Sunday until 4 p.m. today. The 660-feet (200-metre) tunnel passes under a section of the Mayu mountains and was built by the British.
“The rain was too heavy that night [Sunday] and it’s been raining since early yesterday evening,” a Buthidaung resident told Mizzima. “The access road to the tunnel … had an earthen base so it was eroded by this torrential rain. It’s been raining today for the whole day too.”
A total of about 30 trucks were stranded on the highway at the either end of the tunnel until 4 p.m. today.
District officials came with two bulldozers to clear the road to the border town of Maungdaw, an entrepôt for Arakan’s fishery products, agricultural produce and timber. Fish, shrimp, seasonal fruit and vegetables, rice, bamboo and teak are among goods usually trucked to Bangladesh along this route.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
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