Guwahati: The disruption of rail and surface transport in Barak Valley has put the tea industry in a big crisis as the dispatch of tea has come to a halt.

The railway connectivity of the Barak valley area has been disrupted since the middle of May 2022. Surface transport by and between Barak Valley and Guwahati is facing repeated closures due to heavy landslides in the Rathacherra-Sonapur zone of Meghalaya. 

The same road is closed for the last two days, reportedly because of a heavy landslide and has caused serious damage of the road in different points. 

The road connecting Guwahati via Dima Hasao is also in deplorable condition and has reportedly been closed for the last two days for vehicular traffic. 

The Tea Association of India today said the dispatch of tea from Barak Valley Tea Estates has been stopped; causing a crisis of working capital needed for day-to-day expenses of the garden, including wages and rationing of its hundreds of workers. 

The collection and import of essential industrial inputs have come to a halt, stock of industrial inputs in the tea factories of Barak Valley is running out fast, "the association said. 

Barak Valley comprises of Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi districts of Assam. The Barak Valley is the southern region of Assam with a share of around 6.5 percent of Assam’s tea production.

The Barak Valley of Assam has been recognized as an economically weaker section/ area when compared to the rest of the plantations in the Brahmaputra Valley. The productivity of teas in Barak Valley is about 25–30 percent less than the average productivity of teas from Brahmaputra Valley. Due to their geographical location, gardens in the Barak Valley have to bear additional costs on transportation of inputs and other tea dispatches than estates in the Brahmaputra Valley.

The Tea Association of India said due to repeated incessant rain in the months of May 2022 and June 2022, coupled with a flood in the middle of May 2022, the tea industry suffered substantial crop loss during this peak plucking period. 

"The recent drop in price realization of tea in auction centres, coupled with heavy crop loss during this pick plucking season, stoppage of tea dispatch due to road closure, has compounded the problems of the tea industry of the Barak Valley area putting a question mark on its sustainability," it said.