Truckers’ strike disrupts supply of essentials in Mizoram

Aizawl: The supply of essential commodities in Mizoram has been affected as truckers have halted operations on the Aizawl-Silchar road, the primary lifeline of the state linking Assam.

Starting Thursday, the Mizoram Truck Owners’ Association (MTOA) and the Mizoram Truck Drivers’ Association (MTDA) began an indefinite strike to protest the dilapidated condition of National Highway-306/06 between Sairang near Aizawl and Vairengte in the Kolasib district, near the Assam border.

MTOA General Secretary Dina Tlau said that trucks carrying essential commodities and construction materials stopped operating from 7 a.m. on Thursday in protest against the poor condition of the highway.

However, oil tankers and trucks carrying cooking gas continued operating, officials said.

Tlau explained that NH-306/06 (Aizawl-Silchar road), which the monsoon damaged last year, has not received repairs for a long time.

The national highway, particularly the Kawnpui-Khamrang/Sairang sector, has suffered the most damage. Truck owners and drivers who transport essential commodities from outside the state no longer feel safe traveling on the highway.

He claimed that the state government and other concerned authorities had promised to repair the road during the winter but have not taken any action.

The Mizoram Trippers' Association, Kolasib District Trippers' Association, truck owners, and drivers in Kolasib and Kawnpui towns have joined the ongoing strike in support, he said.

Meanwhile, the state’s Public Works Department (PWD) issued a statement saying that workers began repairing NH-306/06 between Sairang and Vairengte on January 20.

The department has deployed around 20 laborers, along with earth excavators, vibratory rollers, and tipper trucks for the repairs, the statement said.

Although the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had already planned to hand over the NH between Sairang and Vairengte to the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), the state PWD still manages the two sectors—Bilkhawthlir to Kolasib and Kawnpui to Khamrang.

The department stated that it had completed the projects on the Bilkhawthlir to Kolasib and Kawnpui to Khamrang sectors last year and was ready to transfer them to NHIDCL. However, the contractor did not complete maintenance work on the Kawnpui-Khamrang sector, and the PWD terminated the contract.

The department added that the state government approved Rs. 75 lakh last year to repair potholes along the Kawnpui to Khamrang sector because MoRTH could no longer allocate maintenance funds.

Since NHIDCL failed to take over the two sectors by December last year or January this year, as agreed in a high-level meeting, the state PWD has requested additional funding from the state government to repair the Kawnpui to Khamrang sector.

State Supply Department Director Saizikpuii said that the department has enough rice stock for January and is distributing the ration quotas.

She also mentioned that the department is currently lifting food grains for February and monsoon stocks.

She expressed hope that truckers would soon call off the strike, as workers have started the repair work.