Tripura ensures adequate food, fuel amid flood crisis, warns against artificial price hikes

The Tripura Government on Friday assured that the state has sufficient stock of food and fuel, issuing a stern warning against unscrupulous traders creating an artificial crisis.

Speaking with reporters, Tripura's Food and Civil Supplies Minister, Sushanta Chowdhury, said that Tripura has been dealing with flood situations since August 19.

“All steps have been taken to overcome the situation. We want to appeal to everyone not to create panic regarding food and fuel. Earlier today, we held a review meeting with the state's businessmen, urging them not to increase the prices of essential goods. The government is distributing food to flood victims using helicopters. However, some businessmen are still attempting to raise the prices of daily necessities, which prompted the meeting. We are hopeful that the situation will improve in the coming days,” said the Minister.

The Minister stated that there is no shortage of food items in ration shops.

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“In some areas, water entered ration shops, damaging some items. Despite this, people are still receiving services. In ration shops, we currently have 76 days’ worth of rice, 99 days of wheat, 31 days of salt, and 16 days of lentils. In the open market, there are 27 days’ worth of rice, 11 days of lentils, 83 days of edible oil, 7 days of potatoes, 5 days of onions, 42 days of wheat, 25 days of sugar, and 38 days of salt. There is no shortage of food in either the open market or the PDS. If any unscrupulous businessman is found selling products at inflated prices, the public is advised to report it to the department. If we find such cases, we will impose heavy penalties on the traders and take legal action. We have enough stock of food,” said the Minister.

He added that announcements will be made in markets across the state, urging traders not to hike the prices of essential commodities and to avoid creating an artificial crisis.

The Minister also mentioned that Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha has directed the food department to distribute food packets via helicopters.

“So far, 3,140 food packets have been distributed, with 8,000 packets ready. Each helicopter can only carry 500 packets at a time. Since yesterday, food has been air-dropped using helicopters. We also have sufficient fuel for 9 days. The damaged NH 08 has caused some vehicles to be halted, but NHIDCL and PWD are working on it, and the road is expected to be repaired within two days,” he added.