ITANAGAR, Aug 21 � With flash floods in Assam disrupting surface transport, the three Siang districts in land-locked Arunachal Pradesh are facing acute shortage of essential commodities and petroleum products for the seventh day today.
Official sources today said East, West and Upper Siang districts have been cut off from the rest of Arunachal Pradesh for the last one week after flash floods breached a large portion of the NH-52 at Gainadi in Dhemaji district of Assam.
The flood waters have also eroded a long portion of the NF Railway metre-gauge track in the same area, the sources said.
This has affected supply of essential commodities like petrol and diesel and has caused spurt in prices of foodstuff.
Petroleum depot owners in the three districts have failed to replenish stocks even after five days as the road via Daporijo in Upper Subansiri district is not viable for fuel transportation.
The sources said about 130 km stretch of the NH-52 from Gogamukh to Ruskin Gate in Dhemaji district is in bad condition since about a decade and every monsoon road communication through it is snapped at several places.
The Border Roads Organisation, entrusted to maintain the highway, has not yet completed repairing it, they said.
The highway is the lifeline for the people of the three Siang districts. Essential commodities are transported to Likabali, Aalo, Ruksin, Pasighat and Yinkiong via the road. � PTI
