Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi

Fuel shortage triggers panic

— Photo: M. Moorthy

dry: Oil tankers queuing up in front of the Indian Oil Corporation’s terminal at Vazhavanthankottai near Tiruchi on Thursday.

TIRUCHI: A severe shortage of petrol and diesel gripped the City on Thursday as several fuel outlets closed down running out of stock owing to the strike by the executives of the public sector oil companies. Supply of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has also been affected.

The fuel shortage in the City triggered a panic reaction since Wednesday evening, as a large number of people rushed in to refuel their vehicles. Many of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) petrol outlets closed shop late on Wednesday evening and by Thursday afternoon all the dealer outlets of these two companies were shut.

There was a tremendous rush at some of the Hindustan Petroleum (HP) dealers’ outlets, which were getting supplies from Madurai. However, with just about half-a-dozen HP outlets in Tiruchi, motorists had to wait a long time and only premium products were available.

Even in the few outlets which had stocks, the staff resorted to rationing in view of the huge crowd. Some motorists rushed to the outskirts of the City such as Samayapuram and Kattur to get their vehicle refuelled. “I had to wait for 40 minutes to get my two-wheeler refuelled. But even then, I got just two litres of petrol,” said a harried R. Gopalakrishnan, a City resident.

A majority of the 291 petrol stations in the entire Tiruchi region, covering Tiruchi, Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Pudukottai, Perambalur and Ariyalur districts and Karaikal had run out of stocks by this afternoon, according to S. P. Kumarappan, General Secretary, Tamil Nadu Petroleum Dealers Association. The situation would turn worse if the strike continued, he observed.

Autorickshaw/taxi drivers, who normally went for frequent refills of small quantities, were badly affected. Private bus operators were also keeping their fingers crossed as operations could be affected further. Sources in the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation revealed that there was no problem as of now in the Tiruchi region as the division had stocked adequate quantity of diesel anticipating the problem.

However, the Corporation too faced the prospect of running out of stock if the strike continued over the next couple of days, the sources indicated.

Meanwhile, the continuing lorry strike has also raised the anxiety of traders ahead of the Pongal festival season, a time for a spurt in sales in the markets. Though mini vans and other smaller goods vehicles operated on short distances, transport of commodities and vegetables to far off destinations has been badly affected.

A consignment of about 5,000 tonnes of rice meant for the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation was moved to Southern destinations as it could not be transported to the godowns here.

Almost all the petrol bunks in Nagapattinam district ran out of petrol and diesel stock and have put up ‘no stock’ board in the bunks on Thursday.

Motor vehicle users are facing hardship. Vans and buses are the worst affected and several vehicles that came from various parts of the State to Velankanni that ran out of diesel are stranded. Two-wheeler riders are running from pillar to post to get a litre of petrol to reach their destinations within the district.

There has been a scarcity of petrol and diesel in Thanjavur town on Thursday with most of the petrol bunks going dry due to non-arrival of stocks.

However, bunks using Hindustran Petroleum products had petrol and diesel as the company’s union has not joined the strike.

Following the problem, Thanjavur district collector M. S. Shanmugham intervened and appealed to the 20 bunks which use HP products to ration the available petrol and give to all.

Police pickets have also been posted in these bunks. There are about 60 bunks in the town and 40 out of 60 have gone dry.

Meanwhile, Srinivasan, district president of Tamil Nadu Varthagar Kazhagam said that truckers strike has hit vegetable and other goods coming to Thanjavur from other towns. He appealed to the State government to take steps to make alternate arrangements to overcome the problem.

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