Mizoram: Fuel Crisis Hits State Amid Major Train and Road Transport Disruptions

AIZAWL: Rail and road services have been brought to a grinding halt and the condition of the national highways has further hampered the fuel and other essential goods transport to Mizoram.

Trains on the Bhairabi-Sairang route have been cancelled since August 21 due to floods and landslides. Railway engineers and workers are working hard to restore the service as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, transport services came to a grinding halt yesterday due to bad road conditions on National Highway-306 and National Highway-6 between Kawnpui and Khamrang in Kolasib district.

Truck drivers said the Kawnpui-Sairang section of NH-306 and NH-6 is in such bad shape that transporting fuel is not feasible.

They also said that the poor road conditions are dangerous to the drivers and may lead to oil spills from tankers due to the rough terrain.

Truck drivers avoided it for their own safety and the safety of local residents. Most fuel stations in the state capital Aizawl and other towns are out of fuel.

The Mizoram Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department urged the people not to be scared. They said that everything possible is being done by the state government to repair the damaged section of the national highway.

In a related development, Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma headed a meeting of extreme importance with leaders of the Mizoram Commercial Vehicle Union wherein the improper state of the region's roads has been raised alarmingly.

During the meeting it was well forcefully brought to his notice that the transportation sector of the state had been grappling with an onslaught of deteriorating infrastructures, particularly during the harsh weather conditions prevailing over the past couple of months.

He acknowledged this to be one among the many challenges that operators of commercial vehicles face and appealed to the union to see the larger picture-the incessant rains that have ravaged large parts of India, Mizoram included, with all the consequent landslides, flooding, and loss of precious lives.

Its heavy downpours did not just slow down the repair but destroyed further the already fragile structure.

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