Rush at fuel stations amid shortage fears causes long queues

Motorists thronged petrol bunks across Visakhapatnam on Tuesday following reports of a possible shortage of petrol and diesel, leading to long queues and traffic congestion in several parts of the city. Many commuters were seen waiting for hours from morning till late evening to refuel their vehicles.

According to sources, oil companies have not been supplying sufficient quantities of fuel to several outlets over the past two to three days, putting pressure on available stocks. At some Indian Oil Corporation outlets, supply was reportedly restricted to 10 kilolitres each of petrol and diesel once every two days. Similar conditions were said to prevail at outlets operated by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited.

With concerns growing over a further tightening of supplies in the coming days, vehicle owners rushed to fuel stations early in the day. By evening, some outlets were learnt to have imposed limits on sales, restricting supply to two litres for two-wheelers, 15 litres for cars, and 50 litres for heavy vehicles.

District Civil Supplies Officer V. Bhaskara Rao said adequate stocks were available and appealed to the public to purchase only the quantity required. He said that of the 120 petrol bunks in the district, 1,860 kilolitres of petrol were available on Monday morning, of which 424 kilolitres had been sold by 6 p.m.

Similarly, 2,118 kilolitres of diesel were available at 118 outlets, of which 401 kilolitres had been sold by the same time, he added.

Meanwhile, traffic movement was affected near several fuel stations as vehicles spilled onto the roads. Congestion was reported near the HP outlet on the national highway close to Fourth Town Police Station, disrupting traffic at Shankaramatham junction. Similar scenes were witnessed near outlets in the Swarna Bharati Indoor Stadium and Appughar areas.