48 hours before Upper Assam drowned: What these bikers saw in Nagaland

A group of 24 bikers from Assam's Sivasagar district have recounted witnessing massive landslides, overflowing rivers and washed-away roads during torrential rain in Nagaland's Mon district on July 18, days before floodwaters devastated parts of Upper Assam.
 

The 24-member biking team from Lakwa in Sivasagar had travelled to Dan, a remote town near the India-Myanmar border, as part of a monsoon ride. They reached Mon district on the night of July 18. The following morning, while travelling from Noklak towards Dan, they encountered relentless rain that transformed the mountainous terrain into a disaster zone.
 

"We are from Lakwa in Sivasagar. We had gone on a monsoon ride to Dan near the Myanmar border. We reached there on July 18. The next day, while travelling from Noklak to Dan, it started raining heavily. Water was gushing down the mountains. We crossed a few flooded stretches, but eventually we reached a point where it was impossible to move ahead. We had to turn back," one of the bikers said.
 

According to the group, landslides had blocked several stretches of the road. In some places, they said, entire sections of mountains had collapsed onto the highway, making it impassable.
 

"There were landslides everywhere. In many places, entire mountains had come down onto the roads. We somehow had to return home. We cleared parts of the road ourselves and continued our journey," the biker said.
 

The return journey proved even more challenging as floodwaters submerged several sections of the road. The bikers said one of their teammates, Moushaq, played a crucial role in helping the group cross the flooded stretches.
 

"One of our teammates, Moushaq, pulled 14 motorcycles across a flooded section by himself. Without his help, many of us would have remained stranded," the biker recalled.
 

What left the group most stunned was the condition of the Tuli River, which they said had changed dramatically within just two days.
 

"When we crossed the Tuli River, we were shocked. For nearly 500 metres, there was nothing but water. Trees, bamboo—everything had been washed away. When we went there, everything was normal. Two days later, the roads were gone, and the entire landscape had changed," he said.
 

The bikers believe the massive volume of water they witnessed rushing down the hills eventually flowed into Assam's river systems and contributed to the catastrophic flooding in Upper Assam.