Bangladesh must allow passage of essentials to Tripura: Forum

Guwahati: An umbrella consumer organization of eight NE states, including Sikkim, has pressed the Centre to push Bangladesh for allowing transportation of essential items from other parts of the country to Agartala through the neighbouring country.
The Federation of North Eastern Consumer Organization (FONECO), an apex body of the NE's consumer organizations, said the dilapidated condition of the national highway linking Assam and Tripura is responsible for majority of the problems in ferrying goods.
It has demanded immediate intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sort out the problem.
The FONECO has submitted a memorandum to the PM narrating how the pitiable condition of the highway, considered as the lifeline for the two states, has seriously affected Tripura's trade and commerce.
"Tripura is facing food and fuel crisis only because of the pathetic condition of the highway. Trucks loaded with essentials are stranded in Assam's Karimganj district. Most of the petrol pumps in Tripura have remained shut without fuel, leading to the skyrocketing of prices of essential commodities," said advocate Ajoy Hazarika, secretary, Consumers' Legal Protection Forum (CLPF), Assam.
Amrit Lal Saha, president of Consumers' Protection Association, Agartala said, "The Assam-Tripura national highway has not been maintained the way it should have been by the agency concerned. It needs to be repaired and restored on a war footing. So, the Centre should ask Bangladesh government to allow transit of necessary products helpful for the common people of Tripura through Bangladesh."
FONECO has also moved DoNer minister Jitendra Singh on the matter.
But, to its dismay, no action has been reportedly taken to repair a few kilometre (over 5km) stretch of the NH-8 near the Assam border for the past several months.
Tripura food and civil supply minister Bhanulal Saha has said the state's stock of food grains is fast dwindling because a large number of trucks transporting the items have remained struck in Assam's Karimganj district.
The lone railway link between Guwahati and Tripura often becomes inaccessible because of the recurrent landslides in the newly-laid Lumding-Badarpur hill section since the rainfall in April.