Surface transport of goods becomes uncertain in Tripura, South Assam, Mizoram

AGARTALA: The Tripura government extended the rationing of petrol and diesel for the next three days and increased the vigilance on the market owing to irregular movement of goods trains and loaded vehicles in the hill sections of Assam for the last two weeks due to landslides and disruption, officials said here on Wednesday.

All the fuel stations of the state have been witnessing long queues even at night and the state government advised people not to use personal petrol and diesel-driven vehicles. However, Director, of Food and Civil Supplies Nirmal Adhikari held a meeting with Tripura Merchants' Association (TMA) and Tripura Wholesale Grocery Merchants' Association (TWGMA) and requested them to regulate the market and not allow the hoarding of essential goods.

Movement of passengers and transport of goods has been affected in Southern Assam, Tripura, Mizoram , and a part of Manipur since April 25, due to the restricted movement of trains, which Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) claimed because of heavy landslides and damage to railway tracks after heavy rains in Assam’s mountainous Dima Hasao district, which is a connecting route to south Assam, Tripura, Manipur, and Mizoram.

Hundreds of workers and technicians, led by several top railway engineers, are working round-the-clock to fully restore the train services between Jatinga-Lumpur and New Harangajao stations under the Lumding division, NFR officials claimed and added they have removed the debris from the mudslides and partially rectified the railway tracks in multiple locations.

As a result, both trains and vehicle movements are affected badly, NFR has been operating trains in the daytime and a few loaded vehicles have been allowed to pass through the affected portion. As many as nine watch towers were installed and through these, railway personnel have been monitoring the situation round-the-clock but couldn’t make any assurance of resuming the normal service, state government officials said.

According to the officials, the stock of fuel -- petrol and diesel – and other essential goods in southern Assam, Tripura, Mizoram, and parts of Manipur are not adequate given restrictions on goods train movement. After the damages to railway tracks and landslides in the hill section of Assam, Tripura and Mizoram governments started rationing of petrol and diesel for different types of vehicles on May 2.