After floods ravaged the state last month, Manipur has been hit by a steep rise in the prices of essential items.


A litre of petrol, for instance, sells at Rs 160-190 on the grey market in the state capital, Imphal. A litre of petrol costs around Rs 67 in Mumbai. And prices of essential items like onion, potato, pulses and vegetables have doubled.


This is primarily because the Imphal-Dimapur highway, which is used to ferry goods, is blocked after there was a heavy landslisde in mid-August in Nagaland's Phesama area. Repair work is still on.

Both the Imphal-Dimapur and Imphal-Silchar highways, key supply routes to the land-locked state, have been blocked by the landslide. A bridge has also been damaged.


Consequently, the state consumer affairs, food and public distribution department has begun rationing petrol from select outlets in Imphal with people queing up for at least six hours for a few litres of fuel.