New Delhi: For over a year now, the demand made to the authorities by the truckers that ferry essential goods to Mizoram on the arterial National Highway 306 to repair the route has not been responded to, leading to such a situation wherein there is currently shortage of essential goods including fuel across the border state.

Some parts of the road for upkeep have been transferred by the state government to the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL), the public sector unit (PSU) under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

According to local news reports, the Mizoram Oil Tankers Drivers Association (MOTDA) suspended operations since July 19 “due to dangerously poor road conditions” on the highway that runs between state capital Aizawl and Silchar town of Assam, which is the state’s main bonnet with the rest of India.

“With only a few vehicles on Aizawl’s streets, most petrol pumps have run dry. Repair work has started on the worst-damaged section of the national highway 306, between Kanpur and Sairang, but the impact on transportation remains critical,” said the Mizoram Post. Although MOTDA officially called off its strike on Friday evening (July 26), many drivers continue to refuse to drive along NH-306, citing dangerous road conditions. Journey that typically took a day now stretch into several days,” said the newspaper this July 29.

Besides oil tankers, hundreds of trucks carrying essential goods remain stranded along NH-306 and NH-06

“Besides oil tankers, hundreds of trucks carrying essential goods such as building materials remain stranded along NH-306 and NH-06. This has led to acute shortages across the state,” the report added.

Sources in the state government told The Wire that the condition of the road is so “pathetic” that “even if the truck drivers want to proceed towards Aizawl, they can’t.”

“In some areas, Mizoram officials have provided food and drinking water to the stranded drivers,” the sources added.

This January, the Mizoram Truck Owners’ Association (MTOA) had also resorted to a strike due to the deteriorating condition of the highway. Dina Tlau, general secretary of the Association, had then accused the state government and other relevant authorities “of promising to repair the road during the winter, but no action taken so far.”

State PWD officials had then said in a press statement that although the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) “had already announced the transfer of the NH between Sairang and Vairengte to NHIDCL, the two sectors, from Bilkhawthlir to Kolasib, and Kawnpui to Khamrang, remain under the state PWD.”

“The department explained that projects for the Bilkhawthlir to Kolasib and Kawnpui to Khamrang sectors were completed last year (2024) with the intention of handing them over to NHIDCL. However, the process was delayed because the contractor responsible for the maintenance work on the Kawnpui-Khamrang sector was unable to carry out the task, leading to the termination of their contract.”

The statement had added, “The department mentioned that since the 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 funds from the state government to repair the Kawnpui to Khamrang sector.”

Central government not providing funds for repair

This May too, both MTOA and MTDA had resorted to suspension of operations on the highway as not much improvement had taken place. However, with the state PWD starting the repair work on the worst stretch – Sairang to Buichali – in May end, the strike was lifted.

With central government not providing funds for its repair, reports said there was fund crunch to complete the work, “prompting truckers to step in”.

This July 5, NHIDCL general manager Binod Kumar Srivastava said that its officials “met higher authorities at its headquarters in New Delhi during the day” and they “instructed the Mizoram NHIDCL officials to take over the Bilkhawthlir-Kolasib and Kawnpui-Khamrang stretches of the national highway which are in bad condition, from the state PWD”.

According to news reports, Srivasta had then said that “work on the stretch between Kawnpui and Khamrang will start within two days from now”, adding, “repairing potholes, and parches with boulders, drain cleaning and landslide clearance will be taken up own a priority basis.”

“NHIDCL says that the main work of black topping will take place only in the dry season, only potholes etc will be repaired now. But the condition of the road is already so bad that in some stretches there are barely any tarred bits of the roads at all for potholes to be repaired, only mud which has been worsened by continuous raining. So right now, even with all good intentions, only bits and pieces of it can be made accessible,” the state sources said.

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