Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) told the media that it is looking to transport fuel to Tripura through Bangladesh as the rail network in Assam has been snapped due to massive landslides.

After the only rail link between Assam’s Dima Hasao district and Barak Valley, Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura with the rest of the country was washed away. The company started moving all its supplies by road transport through Meghalaya, with over double the cost.

Executive Director of IOC, G Ramesh, told the media that the situation forced IOC, state governments and the central government to scout for alternative ways to supply fuel to the southern region of the northeast.

He said that the IndianOil-AOD, North East division, in 2016, sent a few consignments to Tripura through Bangladesh when the supply was severely hit due to miserable road conditions in Barak Valley in Assam.

He added that the company is trying to revive that six-year-old network as an alternative route. Currently, the company is in discussion with the Bangladesh government through the Centre.

The company plans to send its convoys of fuel through Dawki in Meghalaya to Bangladesh and re-enter India at Kailashahar in Tripura. An agreement is signed, and the IndianOil-AOD will move its products from the Betkuchi depot in Guwahati to the Dharmanagar depot in Tripura through the neighbouring nation.

Ramesh said that the company might not send a full convoy initially. It is trying to send a pilot convoy carrying petrol, diesel and LPG, which may supply only 80-120 kilolitres of fuel.

An official told the media that IOC was initially planning to move 1,400 KL of fuel through Bangladesh at Rs 57.78 lakh against Rs 34.22 lakh on the rail route.

The distance for transporting different fuels from IOC’s Betkuchi depot to Dharmanagar depot through Bangladesh will be 376 km, including 137 km inside the neighbouring country, against 579 km in the regular route, through the Meghalaya-Barak Valley.

Earlier, IOC had flagged off seven tanks with 84,000 litres of kerosene and diesel from its Guwahati depot to Tripura through Bangladesh to avoid the dilapidated national highway in Assam. The spokesperson of Indian Oil-AOD said that after the destruction of the rail link, the IOC is supplying fuel through the road through Meghalaya, resulting in a huge amount to the company.

Most of the road links are restored. The rail services connecting Dima Hasao, Barak Valley, Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur with the rest of the country are expected to restart this year in July.

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