Truckers' strike against hit-and-run law: 2,000 petrol pumps run dry; chaos at fuel stations in Punjab, Chandigarh, Himachal as people do panic-buying

Chandigarh, January 2

About 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.

In the evening, the government stepped in and made efforts to persuade truckers to end the protest.  

Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said the decision to invoke the new hit-and-run cases-related penal provision, which has sparked protests by truckers, will be taken only after consultation with the All India Motor Transport Congress.

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 and Punjab ran out of stock due to heavy rush, industry officials said.

Motorists queued up at fuel stations at many places in Punjab and Haryana 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 Haryana, private bus operators and some auto-rickshaw unions have also joined the protest against the new provision and some petrol pumps in Ambala reported a shortage of fuel. Chandigarh, too, saw vehicle owners panic-buying fuel.

Under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, which has replaced the colonial-era Indian Penal Code, drivers who cause serious road accidents due to negligent driving and run away without informing police or the administration face up to 10 years in prison or a fine of Rs 7 lakh.

Situation in southern India is better with no major supply disruption barring a few pumps in Hyderabad, industry officials said.

Truckers in several states launched a three-day protest against the “stringent provision” on Monday.

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.

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.

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.

Sanjeev Garg, a petrol pump owner in Ludhiana, said he would continue selling fuel till his stock ran out. He said he had not received any fresh supply of fuel since Monday.

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 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. With PTI