Aizawl, Sep 22 (PTI): Days after the suspension of operation by oil tankers and disruption of other essential supplies due to dilapidated condition of NH-6 and 306, supply of fuel and other key commodities has resumed and the situation is limping towards normalcy, a minister said on Sunday.
NH-6 and 306 connect Mizoram with Assam. Most supplies come via these two highways and they are considered lifelines of the state.
State Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister B Lalchhanzova said that oil tankers and trucks have resumed operation since Friday evening and are entering the state from outside.
He expressed hope that supply of fuel and essential commodities may return to normalcy very soon.
Mizoram has been facing a shortage of fuel and other major items since last week as hundreds of trucks got stranded on NH-6 and 306, unable to move on the dilapidated roads caused by heavy monsoon.
Mizoram Oil Tanker Drivers’ Association (MOTDA) and Petroleum Entrepreneurs’ and Transporters’ Union of Mizoram (PETUM) suspended operations between September 17 and 19 for the same reason.
MOTDA president Romel Lalruatdika said that they had lifted the strike on Friday evening after office bearers leaders of the association and PETUM inspected the ongoing repair work of NH-6 particularly the Kawnpui-Khamprang stretch in Kolasib district.
On Saturday, Lalchhanzova and PWD minister Vanlalhlana visited that spot sector to take stock of the progress of repairing work.
Vanlalhlana told PTI that the repair work on the Khamrang sector, which is the worst affected by monsoon, is in progress and it will be regularly monitored.
He said that the Kawnpui-Khamrang sector of NH-6 is under state PWD and the route was constructed by and under the maintenance of a private firm.
The road is currently under ‘defects liability period’, which is due up to May 2026, he said.
A defects liability period is the time specified in the contract during which a contractor is legally required to repair any defect which have appeared in his/her work since the date of completion.
As the company concerned failed to repair the dilapidated sections of the route, the state government has recently terminated its contract and also forfeited its security deposit amounting to Rs 35.37 lakh, the minister said.
He said that the Kawnpui-Khamrang sector will be handed over to National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) once the defect liability period is over.
According to the PWD minister, the recent monsoon rain has caused severe damage to highways and infrastructural challenges across the state.
He said that national highways and intra-state highways were affected by landslides at over 573 places across the state.
He said that the NHIDCL has also been urged to repair the dilapidated sections along the NH-306, which come under the Central construction agency.
