Supplies of Covid test kits, oxygen cylinders, disrupted due to Assam blockade, Mizoram minister tells Centre
AIZAWL- Mizoram Health Minister R Lalthangliana on Monday wrote to the Centre alleging that a blockade on vehicles imposed by Assam has led to shortages of medical supplies, including Covid-19 test kits and oxygen cylinders, PTI reported.
He said that the blockade was imposed after the border skirmish between the two states on July 26.
In his letter addressed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Lalthangliana urged the Centre to intervene and lift the alleged blockade imposed by Assam.
“I have come to learn with dismay that essential medical supplies including Covid-19 test kits are blocked from entering our state due to the imposition of blockade in the Barak Valley region,” Lalthangliana, said in the letter. “This has severely affected the availability of medicines required by patients who are now in critical conditions and by those severely affected with Covid-19.”
Mizoram health minister @Dr_Thangtea on Monday writes to @AmitShah seeking Centre's intervention stating that the economic blockade has resulted in a shortage of medicine and Covid-testing kit in Mizoram. pic.twitter.com/rjRfl99fuK
— Jon Suante (@jon_suante) August 2, 2021
A Mizoram police officer posted in Vairengte town told PTI that no vehicle has entered the state from Assam since July 26. The town of Vairengte, on the National Highway 306, connects Mizoram to the rest of the country and most supplies come to the state through this route, according to the news agency.
The alleged blockade noted by Lalthangliana was imposed in the Barak Valley soon after the border clashes, according to PTI. The Barak Valley comprises of the three Assam districts of Hailakandi, Karimganj and Cachar.
The blockade has since been lifted but truck drivers afraid of possible violence have opted to either park their vehicles near the border in Dholai town of Assam’s Cachar district or to circumvent the troubled boundary by taking a longer route through Tripura, according to PTI.
