AGARTALA, July 23 ? Landlocked Tripura was again cut off from the rest of the country following submerging of a large portion of NH 44, Tripura?s lifeline, at Badarpur in Assam due to incessant rains in the last 24 hours, official sources said. River Barak in Assam was flowing much above the danger mark due to heavy rains in the last two days causing serious threat to NH-44 which connects Tripura with the rest of the country. After clearing of the debris at Sonarpur in Meghalaya by Border Road Task Force personnel on Wednesday, hundreds of Meghalaya and Guwahati bound vehicles had started moving but were stranded again with heavy rains triggering a road blockade at Badarpur.
Meanwhile, prices of essential commodities including petrol, were on the rise due to the road blockade on the National Highway. The rationing authority in Tripura have introduced a special permit system for selling petrol in specified quantity to prevent black marketing. Food and Civil Supplies Minister Gopal Das said the present stock of petrol had almost exhausted and the department is getting in touch with Indian Oil Corporation for supplying petrol stored for security forces to meet any crisis during any emergency situation.