2,000 petrol pumps run dry as truckers strike

New Delhi: About 2,000 petrol pumps, mostly in western and northern India, have run out of fuel stocks as the strike by some truckers’ associations entered the second day on Tuesday. While state-owned oil firms had topped up tanks at most petrol pumps across the country in anticipation of the truckers’ strike, some petrol pumps in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Telangana ran out of stock due to heavy rush, industry officials said. Long queues were witnessed at several pumps in these States as panic set in on stocks running out.

Situation in southern India is better with no major supply disruption barring a few pumps in Hyderabad, they said. Essential supplies of vegetables, fruits and milk too may get affected if the three-day strike is extended or a pan-India movement is launched. Some truck, bus and tanker operators began a three-day strike on Monday against the stringent jail and fine regulations under the new criminal law Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) for hit-and-run cases.