Truckers' protest: Fuel pumps in Punjab see panic buying over fears of stocks running out

Motorists queued up at fuel stations at many places in Punjab on Tuesday over fears that stocks would run dry soon with truckers keeping off the roads to protest stricter punishments in the new law on hit-and-run cases.In the wake of the restricted supply of petrol and diesel because of the protest, the Chandigarh administration ordered rationing of fuel to two- and four-wheelers with immediate effect until normalcy is restored.People queued up at petrol pumps in some parts of Haryana as well.

Motorists queued up at fuel stations at many places in Punjab on Tuesday over fears that stocks would run dry soon with truckers keeping off the roads to protest stricter punishments in the new law on hit-and-run cases.

In the wake of the restricted supply of petrol and diesel because of the protest, the Chandigarh administration ordered rationing of fuel to two- and four-wheelers with immediate effect until normalcy is restored.

People queued up at petrol pumps in some parts of Haryana as well. Private bus operators and some auto-rickshaw unions in the state have also joined the protest against the new provision.

Some truck, bus and tanker operators began a three-day strike on Monday in several states to protest the stricter punishments. Under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, set to replace the Indian Penal Code, drivers who cause serious road accidents due to negligent driving and run away without informing authorities face up to 10 years in prison or a fine of Rs 7 lakh.

Meanwhile, the Punjab government appealed to the public not to resort to panic buying of fuel, assuring them of the availability of adequate stocks.

A senior official held a high-level meeting to take stock of the situation arising out of the truck drivers' strike.

However, long queues were seen at petrol pumps across Punjab, with people getting into arguments over having to wait for long.

As per the Chandigarh administration order, two-wheelers will be allowed a maximum of two litres of fuel per transaction and four-wheelers five litres.

''Effective immediately, two-wheelers are limited to a maximum of two litres (maximum value of Rs 200) and four-wheelers are limited to five litres (maximum value of Rs 500) of fuel per transaction,'' according to an official statement.

The situation in Punjab on the second day of the agitation prompted the petroleum dealers association to shoot off a letter to the government over the ''panic buying'' situation in fuel stations affecting stock supplies.

Secretary general of the Punjab Petroleum Dealers Association Rajesh Kumar said there are nearly 4,000 petrol pumps in the state and fuel supply has been affected due to the agitation since Monday.

''If this situation continues, we are staring at a dry-out situation soon which prompted us to write a letter to the Punjab chief minister...,'' Kumar added.

Ravinder Singh Khalsa, a truck driver, said they are demanding the withdrawal of the ''stringent provisions'' in the new law.

''The new law is against the interest of drivers. Nobody intentionally wants to injure or cause anyone's death, but accidents happen. In such cases, people turn against the driver and sometimes the mob damages the vehicle and causes harm to the driver too. We demand that the new law be amended,'' truck operator Sushil Kumar added.

In Ludhiana, the supply of goods has also been affected as truck drivers protested on highways, according to Pankaj Sharma, secretary of the Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertaking.

''The transport of consignments to different places has already been badly hit,'' he added.

In Ludhiana, long queues were witnessed at cooking gas agency offices as well. There was panic-buying of gas cylinders as people were apprehensive of its shortage if the strike continued longer.

With trucks, tempos and containers keeping off the roads, the supply of fruits and vegetables is also likely to be impacted, according to some traders.

In Hoshiarpur, Jasbir Singh said he waited in the queue at a petrol filling station outside the Central Jail for two hours but when his turn was about to come, the staff announced that the pump had run dry.

In Haryana's Ambala, some petrol stations have already reported a shortage of petrol and diesel as no fresh supply has been received in the last two days, the president of the petroleum dealers association Ravinder Singh Dhillon said.

He said fuel is supplied to the region from Rewari, Hisar and Panipat depots but various truck unions were not letting tankers supply fresh petrol and diesel stocks.