E-Paper
After days of ordeal, petrol crisis eases in Chennai
The sudden petrol scarcity in Chennai and other cities in its vicinity eased slightly on Tuesday after Chennai port received enough supplies of the fuel to end the shortage. HT reports.
The sudden petrol scarcity in Chennai and other cities in its vicinity eased slightly on Tuesday after Chennai port received enough supplies of the fuel to end the shortage.
Several petrol bunks in Chennai and neighbouring districts had run out fuel, sparking intense hardships for motorists.
However, for the better part of the day, petrol bunks in Chennai and other cities had “out-of-stock” notice and the few that had petrol saw long queues of vehicles, noisy brawls and even violence.
On Monday, no four-wheeler was allowed petrol worth more than Rs 500. But on Tuesday things eased a bit when some petrol bunks filled the tanks.
The sudden shortage was caused by the closure of a Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals unit for 10 days and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) not supplying petrol. As the situation was threatening to get out of hand, CM J Jayalalithaa summoned executives of the oil companies — Indian Oil, BPCL and Hindustan Petroleum — and asked them to find a solution.
Jayalalithaa said, “Chennai needs 2,100 kilo litres of petrol and 2,500 KL of diesel per day.”
