OUR CORRESPONDENT The railway tracks hang over the Kabli Jhora near Madhu Tea Estate. (Anirban Choudhury) Alipurduar, Aug. 28: A section of the railway tracks in Kalchini has been left hanging in the air after the soil beneath it was washed away by the Kabli Jhora, which suddenly changed course and swallowed the nearly 80-metre-long approach to the bridge that spans the river. In the past 24 hours, the rainfall recorded in Kalchini's Hasimara was 95mm and the downpour has increased water in almost all the rivers. "The rain changed the course of the river, washing away earth from under the tracks. Work is on at a war footing. We are trying our best to restore traffic on the route as soon as possible,' said Partha Sarathi Mandal, the additional divisional railway manager of Alipurduar, adding there was no damage to the 25-metre-long bridge near Madhu Tea Estate, 40km from here. Railway officials, however, said the movement of trains on the route would not be possible before seven days. Today, the Intercity Express from Alipurduar Junction to Siliguri, the Mahananda Express on its way Delhi, Kanchankanya Express headed to Sealdah and the Guwahati-Jha Jha Express were diverted via Samuktala to reach New Jalpaiguri station. Passengers at Hasimara, Birpara, Malbazar, Odlabari, Binnaguri and Chalsa had to face inconvenience because of the diversion. In the Kalchini's block's Mendabari area, a portion of the Bhandari bridge on NH31C was damaged last night because of erosion. Traffic movement has stopped on the highway connecting Assam to Siliguri. Some portions at either end of the bridge had caved in on Tuesday. Last night, the Bania inundated Uttar Mendabari, Uttar Baniapara, Pashchim Satali, Dakshin Satali, Dakshin Baniapara. Over 20,000 people have been affected and hundreds of betel nut trees washed away. In Raypara of Dakshin Satali village, 20 families dismantled their houses and shifted to a safer location because of the erosion which has also eaten into their farmland and damaged an embankment constructed by the zilla parishad. "I have to shift my house tonight as the Bania is flowing just 15ft ,' said Bimal Roy, a resident. According to Atul Subba, the sabhapati of Kalchini panchayat samiti, the situation was grave as water coming down from the Bhutan hills was flooding the areas. "For the last few years, we have been demanding anti-erosion measures, but nobody is listening to us. We have no extra funds to combat the situation and the zilla parishad is also not providing us with any,' Subba said.