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Bangalore panics as fuel outlets run dry

— Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

Feeling the heat: Petrol outlets were crowded in Bangalore on Thursday.

BANGALORE: Scuffles, long queues, postponed travel plans and hard bargaining with autorickshaw drivers were the inevitable fallout in Bangalore as most fuel outlets ran dry on Thursday, pushing the city into a virtual oil crisis on the second day of Oil PSU Officers’ nationwide strike.

Motorists were forced into lengthy queues near the outlets fed by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. and Shell to fill up their tanks in the city even as other fuel outlets displayed “No stock” signs.

While Shell is a private company, HPCL officers have kept off the strike, offering some respite to motorists.

HPCL caters to over 20 per cent of the city’s needs, while Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) and private players meet the remaining requirement.

B. Ashok, IOCL General Manager, Karnataka, told The Hindu that only officers from the level of Deputy General Manager (DGM) upwards reported for work.

While fuel is available at depots, it could not be transferred to tankers and hence to outlets because of non-availability of supervisory officers. Though senior officers had been posted at depots, they could handle only emergency requirements, Mr. Ashok said.

Greater Bangalore requires 1,150 kilo litres of petrol and 1,900 kilo litres of diesel every day.

Meanwhile, fuel outlets in the city witnessed long queues of motorists as well as people holding cans and bottles to buy whatever was available.

Scuffles broke out when someone jumped the queue, and traffic police were seen regulating them.

A BPCL outlet on Central Street in Shivajinagar saw panic-stricken motorists filling their tanks as well as carrying surplus petrol. One man who jumped the queue raised the hackles of another who rained blows on him with his helmet.

Tomin Jose, a chartered accountant and resident of Vijnananagar, who was not aware of the strike, had to learn the hard way when he was forced to join the long queue on Old Madras Road.

Towards late evening, motorists had to negotiate massive pileups at the Cauvery junction and at Mehkri Circle as word got around that the two fuel outlets still had stock.

R. Satyanarayan of Banashankari was to drive to Mysore on Friday to immerse his father’s ashes at the Sangam.

As his car had no petrol, he was forced to hire a taxi shelling out an outrageous amount.

Though the auto liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supply was near normal, the situation may deteriorate in the coming days, said an oil company official, as no supply has been arriving.

Ditto with domestic and commercial LPG cylinders.

Mr. Ashok said supply of aviation turbine fuel to the Bengaluru International Airport was not affected due to officers’ strike.

The supply system, through dedicated pipeline from IOCL’s Devanagondi Terminal to BIAL, takes care of itself, he said.

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