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80% fuel stations run dry amid panic buying in Punjab
There are 3,943 stations Punjab, out of which over 80% ran out of stock on Tuesday, said Monty Sehgal, spokesperson for Petrol Pump Dealers Association Punjab.
Long queues of vehicles were seen at fuel stations across districts of Punjab since Tuesday morning amid panic buying of petrol and diesel amid fears that stocks would run dry soon on the second day of the strike by drivers of oil tankers that hit the supply. There are an estimated 1 lakh trucks, private buses and tankers in the state of which most remained off road, affecting supplies.
Some truck, bus and tanker operators began a three-day strike on Monday in several states to protest the stricter punishments under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Set to replace the Indian Penal Code, under BNS drivers who cause serious road accidents due to negligent driving and run away without informing authorities face up to 10 years in prison or a fine of ₹7 lakh.
There are 3,943 stations Punjab, out of which over 80% ran out of stock on Tuesday, said Monty Sehgal, spokesperson for Petrol Pump Dealers Association Punjab.
Bathinda: Drivers, cops roped in to restore supply
In Bathinda, authorities on Tuesday roped in drivers at the administration’s disposal to try restoring the fuel supply from the oil dumps of three public sector undertakings located in the district. Bathinda is among the key bulk storage points of the major public sector players Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited from where vehicular fuel is supplied to various parts of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir regions. The other bulk storage points in the state are at Jalandhar and Sangrur.
Deputy commissioner Showkat Ahmad Parray said that one oil tanker from the Indian Oil left the storage facility at around 4 pm and another six tankers were geared up to leave for the retail outlets. “We held a meeting with the protesters to end the strike but they were adamant. After that we chalked out a plan to restore supply from the oil dumps to Bathinda and other parts of the Punjab,” Parray said.
In a message, Bathinda senior superintendent of police (SSP) Harmanbir Singh Gill said the police personnel have been deployed to streamline the supply line. “Police teams are escorting tankers leaving the fuel storage points to different places in Punjab and adjoining states,” the SSP said.
Petrol pump dealers said that retail outlets in the state started drying up on Tuesday morning. A transport company operator, Vivek Garg, said the drivers have refused to drive trucks and canters. “The future course will be announced on the third day of the strike,” Garg said.
Bathinda Petrol Pump Dealers Association president Vinod Bansal said there are 255 fuel stations in the district out of which 170 went out of stock and the situation may deteriorate in the next 24 hours. “It may further impact the public transport also,” he added. “Petroleum companies have ample stock at the storage facilities in Bathinda. IOCL and BP supply petrol and diesel from here to retail stations in Bathinda, Fazilka, Moga and four districts of south Malwa. HPCL also caters to the demands of Jammu, Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh regions from here,” Bansal said.
Doaba: Tanker operators end strike, supply to normalise
Jalandhar After chaotic scenes at the fuel stations across the region there was some relief for the public as Jalandhar deputy commissioner Vishesh Sarangal announced that the petrol tanker operators at the Indian Oil terminal have decided to end their strike after a meeting with district administration and senior superintendent of police Mukhwinder Singh Bhullar. The meeting was also attended by Kapurthala deputy commissioner Captain Karnail Singh. “People should not go for panic buying as the supply of fuel will be restored,” Sarangal said. Sarangal said the operators were assured that their demands were being raised with the top authorities of the state government and appropriate solutions would be provided. There are 176 stations in Jalandhar district of which 90% ran dry on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Kapurthala DC said the fuel supply in Kapurthala district normalised by Tuesday evening with the operators resuming fuel transportation.
Amritsar: Auto-rickshaws, city buses remain off the road
In Amritsar, amid heavy rush witnessed at the petrol pumps in Amritsar and surrounding areas auto-rickshaws and buses didn’t ply on roads.
“If the fuel supply does not normalize, we will take the auto-rickshaws off the roads. Public will suffer,” said, Balwinder Singh, an auto-rickshaw driver. As per officials in Amritsar there are 180 stations in the district and around 90% of them have run out of stock.
Scuffle breaks out in Patiala
Patiala Amid panic-buying Patiala too witnessed chaotic scenes at fuel stations with incidents of scuffle between the petrol station attendants and customers reported in a few places. Patiala deputy commissioner Sakshi Sawhney appealed to the public not to resort to panic buying and said, “All gas stations have reserve, and since filling has started at Sangrur, Bathinda and Lalru oil dumps- all should be normal in next few hours.”
In Ludhiana, the supply of goods has also been affected as truck drivers protested on highways, according to Pankaj Sharma, secretary of the Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertaking. “The transport of consignments to different places has already been badly hit,” he added. In Ludhiana also long queues were witnessed at cooking gas agency offices as well. In Hoshiarpur, Jasbir Singh said he waited in the queue at a petrol filling station outside the Central Jail for two hours but when his turn was about to come, the staff announced that the pump had run dry. In Ludhiana, there are 350 stations and all of them were out of stock by noon.
Meanwhile, Punjab Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) president Sandeep Sehgal said that most fuel stations in the state are already dry or will run out of petrol and diesel within the next few hours. “Petroleum product supplies from oil depots were halted by the striking drivers on December 31. This, coupled with a sharp jump in customer footfall at petrol pumps, has led to the present situation. If supplies are not restored immediately, all fuel stations will go dry soon,” he said, expressing concern about the safety of petrol pumps and their staff in such a scenario.
Punjab has 3,840 fuel stations which get their supplies from the terminals of oil marketing companies in Bathinda, Jalandhar and Sangrur. PPDA general secretary Rajesh Kumar has written to chief secretary Anurag Verma and the chief minister’s office, requesting them to make necessary arrangements in coordination with oil marketing companies for the smooth release of supplies from the oil depots and provide security to petrol pumps and oil tankers.
