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Mizoram, Tripura start rationing fuel after heavy rain in Assam disrupts rail connectivity
Officials from Tripura, Mizoram and Barak Valley in Assam, however, stressed that there is no immediate shortage of food and other essentials.
Owing to the continuous downpour and subsequent damage to the tracks in Assam’s Dima Hasao district disrupting rail connectivity to Barak Valley in Assam, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura for the fourth consecutive day on Tuesday, state governments in Tripura and Mizoram have now started rationing the petroleum products.
Officials from Tripura, Mizoram and Barak Valley in Assam, however, stressed that there is no immediate shortage of food and other essentials.
According to Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), railway tracks in over 50 stretches in the Lumding-Badarpur section in Assam have been damaged thereby “completely disrupting” rail communication to Mizoram, Tripura, Manipur and Barak Valley with rest of the country.
“As of now there is no immediate crisis, but in anticipation of shortage and people indulging in hoarding and black marketing, we issued an order on Monday directing petrol pumps to ration sale of petrol and diesel to consumers,” said Mizoram food, civil supplies and consumer affairs department director Ramdinliani.
The director said that if rail connectivity to Mizoram is not restored within the next two-three weeks, there could be scarcity of petroleum products, rice and few other essentials. There is no threat of scarcity of other goods, most of which come by roads, Ramdinliani said.
On Tuesday, the food, civil supplies and consumer affairs department in Tripura also directed all petrol pumps in the state to ration the sale of petroleum products.
“Tripura has sufficient stock of essentials, including fuel. We have taken stock of the matter. Work to restore railway connectivity is also underway. Hopefully, it will resume soon,” director of food, civil supplies and consumer affairs department of Tripura, Tapan Kumar Das, said.
Officials in Assam’s Barak Valley, which comprise of three districts, informed on Tuesday that there is adequate stock of food to last another three months and petroleum products will last another 10 days.
Due to disruption in road and rail connectivity, there’s been a sharp hike in price of flight tickets connecting Silchar, the head quarters of Cachar district in Assam, with Guwahati and Kolkata. Cachar deputy commissioner Keerthi Jalli said there might be some announcement on Wednesday directing airlines to not hike the price.
“Continuous inclement weather coupled with difficult terrain is affecting restoration of the damaged railway tracks. Once the weather becomes conducive, restoration work is expected to gain momentum. Till now, restoration work at 12 locations has been completed ,” NFR chief public relation officer Sabyasachi De informed.
Meanwhile, the flood situation in Assam continued to remain grim on Tuesday. According to bulletin issued by Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), over 400,000 people in 26 districts were affected by the floods.
Crop in nearly 33,000 hectares got affected. Atleast 40,000 displaced people are taking shelter in 89 relief camps in 13 affected districts. One more person died on Tuesday taking the total death toll to six.
According to the IMD office in Guwahati, heavy to very heavy rain accompanied by thunderstorm and lightning is expected in Assam and Meghalaya till Wednesday. Other states are likely to receive light to moderate rain till May 21, it added.
A bulletin issued by Central Water Commission (CWC), stated that Kopili river in Assam continued to flow above the danger mark at Kampur in Nagaon district on Tuesday. Water levels of other rivers in the state, Barak, Kushiyara, Buridehing, Jia Bharali, Desang and Brahmaputra, continued to rise as well.
(With inputs from Priyanka Deb Barman in Agartala and Biswa Kalyan Purkayastha in Silchar)
