Indian Oil Corp takes Bangla route to North East as rain damages NH-44

Indian Oil Corporation Limited on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Roads and Highways Department of the People's Republic of Bangladesh on route permit for carrying petroleum goods via Bangladesh to Tripura and other North Eastern states.

The MoU, signed in Dakha, enables IOCL to send its trucks carrying motor spirit, high speed diesel, superior kerosene oil and liquefied petroleum gas from Meghalaya to Tripura via Bangladesh territory. The facility will be valid till end-September 2016. The facility is bilateral and both sides have agreed to extend the transit facility for a further short period on need basis.

Road transportation of petroleum products through Bangladesh has been necessitated because of the work on the broad-gauging of the railway track in the North-Eastern region. Further, due to heavy rains in the region this monsoon, roads on the Indian side, including NH 44, have been damaged, making plying of goods trucks, including those carrying petroleum goods to Tripura, difficult. This resulted into a situation of scarcity of essential petroleum goods.

While alternate measures are also being taken to address the situation, the facilitation extended by the Bangladesh government under the MoU is expected to improve the situation of shortage of petroleum products in Tripura in appreciable measure.