Petrol at Rs 300 a litre in Tripura as rains hit highway repair

AGARTALA: Hundreds took to the streets across Tripura on Friday and blocked several roads to protest against the crippling shortage of essential commodities and soaring fuel prices made worse by the current spate of incessant rain. Petrol price hit Rs 300litre and diesel's Rs 150L as damage on the lifeline Assam-Tripura national highway left traffic disrupted.

The highway has been damaged for a couple of months and the continuous rainfall has stalled repair work and turned vast stretches of the road into slush and mud. Several trucks loaded with essential items, both perishable and non-perishable, are stranded on the highway .

In Agartala, protesters burnt tyres in front of fuel stations, with opposition Trinamool Congress workers joining them to block routes to the state secretariat on Friday . Police quelled the protest and made over 50 arrests. Several schools were forced to announce a three-day holiday owing to the absence of fuel for buses.

The Tripura government has been forced to ration fuel and follow an odd-even system of refilling vehicles to deal with the situation.

Civil supplies minister Bhanu Lal Saha assured the situation would improve. "Altogether, 180 vehicles have entered Tripura since Thursday . Twenty are carrying petrol and 15 diesel. We have requested IOC to dispatch at least 100 fuel tankers on daily basis," he said.Saha blamed the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in Assam for "crippling" Tripura.

Trinamool Congress has asked the state government to consider engaging the military engineering division to restore connectivity , while blaming at the Centre and the state's Left Front government for the mess.

BJP , meanwhile, has asked CM Manik Sarkar to step down "for his failure to ensure the supply of essential commodities".