Mizoram ferries fuel, LPG from Manipur & Tripura

As the blockade on National Highway-306 -- the lifeline of Mizoram -- entered the fourth day on Saturday, the Mizoram government ferried fuel and cooking gas from neighbouring Manipur and Tripura.
Mizoram ferries fuel, LPG from Manipur & Tripura

AIZAWL/ GUWAHATI: As the blockade on National Highway-306 -- the lifeline of Mizoram -- entered the fourth day on Saturday, the Mizoram government ferried fuel and cooking gas from neighbouring Manipur and Tripura. The fresh deadlock at its border with Assam has been continuing since Wednesday despite a series of top level meetings, officials said on Saturday.

Mizoram's Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister K. Lalrinliana said that two trucks have been sent to Manipur to bring LPG cylinders and five more oil tankers are being sent to the State.

Department Director Lalhriatzuali Ralte said that with the help of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, similar efforts are on to bring transport fuel and LPG from Tripura.

In Guwahati, Assam Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday that solving the vexed inter-State boundary disputes of Assam with other north-eastern States is at the top of the agenda for the party.

He also said the Central government would take up the issue after the Assam polls that are five to six months away.

Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla also held his second meeting, through video conference, with the Chief Secretaries of Assam and Mizoram.

A senior official in Aizawl said on Saturday that Bhalla urged both Assam Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna and his Mizoram counterpart Lalnunmawia Chuaungo to take steps to withdraw security personnel from the inter-State boundary.

While the Assam Chief Secretary said that he has instructed Cachar Deputy Commissioner (DC) Keerthi Jalli to ensure that the blockade is lifted, the Mizoram Chief Secretary informed that a few policemen deployed along the border would not be withdrawn till people on the Assam side stopped the activities that could "harm public harmony and create panic".

The inter-State boundary trouble resurfaced after a fortnight on Wednesday along Assam's Cachar and Karimganj districts, which share mountainous boundaries with two Mizoram districts Mamit and Kolasib.

The DCs of Karimganj and Mamit districts and Cachar and Kolasib districts were to hold separate meetings in Assam on Saturday but the first meeting that was held proved to be inconclusive, while the Kolasib DC did not turn up for the meeting.

Karimganj DC Anbamuthan M.P. after the meeting said that Mamit DC Lalrozama categorically told the meeting that they would not withdraw their forces from Assam. (IANS)

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