The petrol, diesel and LPG supplies are set to be normalised within a few days as the truck drivers’ strike in the city has ended. Amit Gupta, President of Vidarbha Petroleum Dealers Association (VPDA) told ‘The Hitavada’ that the

petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supplies which were disrupted in the city would normalise within a few days. Gupta said, people should not resort to panic buying as there is sufficient stock at the oil marketing company depots of Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum. At present, there is a steady supply of petrol and diesel to the petrol pumps from Borkhedi and Chandrapur depots. By evening of Wednesday most of the pumps would be open, he added. The truck drivers’ strike against the amendment to the new hit-and-run law passed by the Government under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita affected citizens the most as they were caught by surprise on first day of 2024. Citizens panicked as they got news of a nation-wide strike being organised by the truck drivers. This created a lot of confusion among the people and they started to fill their two-wheelers and four-wheelers with petrol and diesel at an alarming pace.

 

Seeing the long queues at the petrol pumps more people joined the rush. The situation became alarming by the evening of January 1. There was total chaos on January 3. People were seen scrambling from one petrol pump to another to fill their tanks with petrol and diesel. Each petrol pump keeps two-three days buffer stock but some of the dealers did not purchase petrol and diesel from the oil marketing companies as they were under the influence that the Government would decrease the petrol, diesel and LPG rates in the New Year. With less stock at the pumps and heavy demand the situation deteriorated. “Currently, the petrol, diesel and LPG supplies have resumed at a fast pace and everything would be normal very soon,” assured Gupta.