Aizawl: Long queues of vehicles snaking across filling stations in Mizoram’s capital have triggered panic buying of petrol, diesel and LPG, as fears of an acute fuel crisis mount in the wake of the war in West Asia.The scare intensified after the state food, civil supplies & consumer affairs department issued an advisory urging citizens to be frugal in consumption of fuel and cooking gas. The advisory quoted the Union petroleum ministry as saying there was “sufficient storage of LPG, petrol and diesel”, but the appeal has only driven frantic buying.Officials and citizens say the fear of scarcity has been further escalated by unofficial exports of fuel and essentials to Myanmar’s southern Chin state, despite no formal border trade being in place. The unregulated flow has raised concerns that Mizoram’s own supplies could be depleted.CM Lalduhoma told the assembly that he was “seriously concerned” about the unchecked trade at Zochachhuah in Lawngtlai district, along the Kaladan Multi Modal Transit Transport (KMMTT) project road. He said the stretch in Myanmar is controlled not by the govt but by the Arakan Army, which has cordial ties with Mizoram and supports early completion of the project.A senior advocate in Aizawl lamented that “incessant and illegal trade continues at the Mizoram-Myanmar border, especially in the southern part of the state, while the entire state is facing possible acute scarcity of fuel.” He urged the govt to act immediately to stop the flow and “save the people of the state from facing the real threat of oil scarcity”.Local organisations have also raised alarm. A leader of the Young Lai Association (YLA) in Lawngtlai said the unregulated trade was not confined to Zochachhuah but was also rampant at Hruitezawl in Lawngtlai and Lungpuk in Siaha district.
