1k vehicles enter Mizoram in 3 days as normalcy returns
GUWAHATI: Supply of essential commodities is gradually returning to normalcy in Mizoram as vehicles carrying goods are easily entering the state from neighbouring Assam through National Highway-306, Mizoram minister K Lalrinliana said on Tuesday.
The Mizoram Police, too, confirmed the development, saying that over 1,000 vehicles have entered the state in the last three days, since Assam lifted the informal blockade. “The situation has normalised and no vehicles were stopped by locals on either side...but we are keeping a strict vigil in the area,” Cachar district superintendent of police Ramandeep Kaur said.
Six Assam Police personnel and a civilian were killed and dozens were injured as a decades-long border dispute sparked violent clashes on July 26, prompting Himanta and his Mizoram counterpart Zoramthanga to publicly trade charges. The two sides reached an interim agreement to withdraw their forces from the disputed 4km stretch on July 28.
Even after Assamese organisations in Barak Valley lifted the economic blockade of Mizoram, truckers afraid of possible violence opted to either park their vehicles near the border in Cachar district’s Dholai or to circumvent the troubled boundary by taking a longer route through Tripura.
The situation eased after ministers from both states met on August 6 and agreed to maintain calm along the border.
Nearly 1,037 vehicles have entered Mizoram from Assam between Saturday night and Tuesday afternoon, police said. From Mizoram, 294 vehicles entered Assam through the Lailapur border till Tuesday.
Lalrinliana said railway tracks, which were damaged in Assam, have also been repaired.