‘Ensuring uninterrupted supply of essentials across NE’

GUWAHATI: Assam transport minister Chandra Mohan Patowary on Sunday said the transport department been relentlessly coordinating with Indian Railways and the food and civil supplies department to ensure uninterrupted supply of essential commodities across the state and region during the lockdown.
Essential commodities have been unloaded in 28 railway points in 18 districts of the state so far.
“On an average, about 1,500 trucks are being mobilised everyday and so far 44,624 trucks-trips have been made in the state to unload 357 railway rakes. This includes essential items such as rice, wheat, edible oil, salt, sugar, potato, onion etc,” Patowary told reporters here on Sunday. The state transport department has also facilitated movement of medicine to places like Agartala and Imphal while trucks were arranged for sending masks and other COVID-19 protection equipment to Aizawl.
“To ensure sufficient availability of food stock, 179 rakes of Food Corporation of India (FCI) have been brought to Assam for the entire Northeast – carrying 4.7 lakh metric tonnes of rice and 0.21 lakh metric tonnes of wheat,” he said.
The transport department has also extended the validity of transport permits, driving licenses, registration, pollution control certificates, which were to expire during the lockdown period, to June 30, 2020.
To ensure smooth movement of trucks, 45 dhabas have been ordered to be kept open on highways for truck drivers, observing all precautions. Similarly, 85 truck repair shops are being kept open in accordance with instructions from the ministry of home affairs.