Kochi (PTI): With the ongoing strike by oil PSU executives entering third day on Friday, 95 per cent of the petrol stations in Ernakulam district have stopped operations following shortage of fuel.

Vehicles queued up before few pumps, which were open right from the morning, sometimes even disrupting traffic.

Kerala Petroleum Dealers Association sources here quoted the pump owners as saying that the situation was bad, indicating hard days ahead for the consumers.

In the district out of the 175 petrol pumps, 95 per cent ran out of stocks, the sources said.

From the BPCL Kochi refinery, Ambalamugal unit, an average of 8,000 kilo litre of diesel, 2,000 kilo litre petrol and 1,000 ton cooking gas used to move out daily. Due to the strike the movement had come to a halt, the sources said.

Flight operations from the international airport at Nedumbassery near here, remained unaffected even as the indefinite stir by Oil Sector Officers Association (OSOA) entered the third day,airport Director A C K Nair told PTI.

The flight operations from here would not be affected for the next four days as the airport had ensured a stockpile of aviation fuel, he said.