Truck drivers' protest: Refilling of tankers carrying fuel begins in Maha

Amid protests in parts of Maharashtra by some truckers' associations against stricter punishments in the new law on hit-and-run cases, the refilling of tankers carrying petrol and diesel started at all except four depots of oil companies in the state started from Tuesday afternoon, an official of petrol dealers' body said.

There are around 10 depots of oil companies in the state, he said.

Petrol pumps in Mumbai, Nagpur and other parts of the state witnessed long queues on Tuesday as people came to fill up their vehicle tanks fearing shortage of fuel amid the protest by truck drivers. The fuel supply to petrol pumps was affected due to the drivers' agitation since Monday.

Talking to PTI, Uday Lodh, president of the 'Federation of All Maharashtra Petrol Dealers Association' (FAMPEDA) said citizens should not panic about the shortage of fuel as the refilling of tankers has resumed at all the fuel depots of the oil marketing companies in the state except four.

"Except the four fuel refilling depots of oil marketing companies - at Akola, Ahmednagar, Chandrapur and Wadala (Sewri in Mumbai), the refilling of fuel tankers has resumed from all other depots, including the biggest one in the state near Manmad in Nashik district, from where the fuel supply was restored in the evening," he said.

Almost 80 per cent of fuel supply has been restored as the refilling of the dealer transporters tankers started from these depots. But problem for the remaining 20 to 30 per cent of supply remains as fuel refilling has not yet started at four depots and tankers of fuel transporters have not yet started refilling, he said. "Transporters (having a contract with oil marketing companies) have not yet started the fuel supply yet.

Therefore, there is a shortage of supply by 20 to 30 per cent, but the remaining 70 to 80 per cent has become available in the market. Hence, people do not need to panic," Lodh said. As per official figures, there 6,500 to 7,000 petrol pumps in Maharashtra and its vehicle population of more than 3.5 crore.

As supply of fuel to petrol pumps was affected due to the drivers agitation that started on Monday, several pumps ran dry, and many witnessed long serpentine queues to refuel vehicles.

Mumbai also saw a huge crowd of motorists and long queues since morning, and several pumps put up boards that read 'Fuel out of stock' due to lack of supply from the depots.

Chetan Modi, president of Petrol Dealers' Association, which represents over 150 petrol dealers of around 200 in the megalopolis, told PTI on Tuesday evening that the supply of fuel to the petrol pumps did not resume from the Sewri depot.

"Daily, around 180 tankers are refilled at the Sewri depot. But hardly 3-4 tankers of dealers were refilled throughout the day, and the tankers of transporters are still off the roads. Hence, they won't have fuel to sell," he said.

"Most of the dealers get fuel supply from the transporters. If they don't get supply, how will they be able to sell the fuel?" Modi said, adding that this is a temporary situation that could last for another couple of days, and hence motorists should not panic.

The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) and the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) assured that their bus services will not be affected due to the fuel shortage as they have ample stock at present.

Vivek Bhimanwar, transport commissioner of Maharashtra, who holds additional charge as the MSRTC's vice chairman and managing director, told PTI that the state-run public transport body requires 11 lakh litres of diesel every day, and presently they have a stock of about 20 lakh litres of fuel.

He further said that the government has directed the oil marketing companies to supply fuel to the public transport bodies on priority, and hence they are hopeful of receiving more fuel supply.

"We have also written to the Superintendents of Police for providing security to the tankers supplying fuel to the MSRTC," Bhimanwar said. The state-owned corporation operates an average of 14,000 buses daily, and for those, it requires 11 lakh litres of diesel.

MSRTC has diesel refueling facilities at all 250 depots across the state, and it buys fuel from Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited. MSRTC is one of the biggest transport corporations in the county, with a fleet of about 15000 buses, and more than 60 lakh passengers travel on ST buses daily.

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) general manager, however, claimed that the situation is "under control" and they will have CNG and electric buses to deploy in case of a diesel shortage.

"Currently, there is no shortage of fuel. Everything is under control," Vijay Singhal, general manager of BEST, said, adding that they have more CNG and electric buses, which they can deploy if required. BEST buses operate in Mumbai and neighbouring Thane, Navi Mumbai, and Mira Bhayandar cities. More than 30 lakh passengers travel in these buses daily.

Anil Garg, president of the School Bus Owners of Association, claimed that in Mumbai and Maharashtra, the school buses will run if their buses get diesel supply.

"We have informed parents that our school buses will run, but they will run if we get diesel," Garg said, adding that they have also requested security for their buses.