Several reports on Tuesday claimed that there was shortage of petrol and diesel many petrol pumps across the state. Industry officials told news agency PTI that around 2,000 petrol pumps, mostly in western and northern India, ran out of fuel stocks as the strike by some truckers’ associations entered the second day on Tuesday.

ALSO READ: Why there are long queues at petrol pumps in these cities? Drivers’ protest against new hit-and-run law explained

In a major relief, a few states said they have adequate fuel stocks. Here’s what states said as “panic buying” triggered fears of shortage of fuel supply at petrol pumps:

Punjab

A Punjab official said there was no need for the public to panic as adequate stock of petrol and diesel is available in the state. His statement came after a high-level meeting involving senior state and district officials was held on Tuesday.

Sharing the details, Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, Home Secretary, Punjab, said against a daily consumption of about 4,100 KL of petrol, the stock of petrol in various petrol pumps across the state is about 22,600 KL and the same shall be replenished from time to time.

ALSO READ: Truck drivers protest: Chandigarh caps petrol, diesel sale as stir hits fuel supply; details here

“Similarly, the state consumes about 10,000 KL of diesel daily and the stocks at the filling stations are currently more than 30,000 KL, and 90,000 KL is also available at various terminals,” he was quoted by ANI as saying.

He said all the terminals are connected through pipelines with the respective refineries and there’s a constant flow of petroleum products to these terminals.

Commenting upon the media reports regarding the acute shortage of petrol and diesel in certain filling stations, the Home Secretary said that at any point in time, the stock is not uniformly positioned in all the filling stations.

Meanwhile, Hoshiarpur District Collector Komal Mittal said the head of Petrol Pumps Association confirmed to her that truckers’ union strike would end soon. “There is no shortage of fuel and the tankers have left for refueling in Jalandhar. All the 240 pumps in the district will be refilled by tonight,” she said.

Kashmir

Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir VK Bidhuri said, “We have 21 days’ stock of diesel and 24 days’ stock of petrol available at the depots in the Valley. We also have over 20 days’ stock of LPG available.”

“I have held a meeting with the representatives of the oil companies as well. There is no need to panic,” he was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

The statement came as the Jammu and Kashmir fuel station owners’ association said 90 per cent of petrol pumps have gone dry in Jammu and in the next few hours, all stocks will run out as 1,500 tankers carrying fuel to the Union territory and Ladakh were on strike.

ALSO READ: How trucker protests shut the Canadian border and rocked the economy

Chhattisgarh

Raigarh Collector Kartikeya Goel assured the residents of the city that “there is no scarcity of essential items including the supply of petrol and diesel“. He also requested people to not get “misguided by WhatsApp messages”.

He said on Tuesday a meeting with Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai. “We discussed that no panic buying should take place and made arrangements for items that were required,” he added.

Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal Collector Ashish Singh said the supply of petroleum products was affected for six to eight hours. However, authorities beat the shortage of around 5.5 lakh litres of fuel between 6 am and 11 am. “Till yesterday 12 am, we had made sure that no petrol pump suffered a shortage,” he said.

Singh said 10 lakh litres of petrol and diesel have been supplied through the vehicles of petroleum companies. “People do not need to panic and queue up at the fuel stations,” he said after visiting a petrol depot.

Indore Collector Ilayaraja T also said there was no shortage of petrol and diesel in the district and these fuels were being supplied continuously. Collectors of various other districts including Rewa, Alirajpur, Anuppur, Shahdol and Narmadapuram also appealed to the people not to panic as an adequate supply of fuel was being maintained.

Himachal Pradesh

In Manali, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu said the situation was under control but it could worsen if the strike continued. However, taxi drivers and residents expressed concerns over the limited availability of petrol and diesel. “I have visited several petrol pumps in Manali but petrol is not available anywhere,” taxi driver Harjeet, who came to drop off tourists in Shimla, told PTI.

(With inputs from agencies)

Milestone Alert!
Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world 🌏 Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it’s all here, just a click away! Login Now!

Published: 02 Jan 2024, 08:51 PM IST