MUMBAI: Amid a shortage of fuel in rural areas, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis claimed that there is a 30 per cent spike in fuel that caused the shortage and panic among the people, particularly among farmers in the state.
Several videos were circulated on social media where people were standing in the queue with drums to get the fuel, particularly diesel, for the agricultural activities. In some places, farmers were required to sleep at a fuel station, while in other places, farmers brought their own night tiffin to stay long at the fuel station because the wait is uncertain.
Farmers are engaged in pre-monsoon and before the Kharif agriculture work like tilling, rotor and other activities, and these works are done by tractors. So, there is a demand for fuel in rural areas. But short supply as caused the major panic among the farming community, fearing that this delay may hamper their agricultural work and damage the harvest as well.
However, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis claimed there is no shortage of fuel in Maharashtra, and he said that due to panic, people are hoarding the fuel, which resulted in a 30 per cent spike in fuel demand in Maharashtra.
CM Devendra Fadnavis said that he spoke with the respective district collectors and divisional commissioners, asking them to ensure the smooth supply of diesel to farmers for agricultural work.
He said that they are closely monitoring the situation and ensuring that there is no short supply of fuel in rural areas where the demand has spiked by 20 to 30 per cent.
“We know that each year there is a certain demand for fuel, but this demand rises by 20 to 30 per cent suddenly, then there is some issue that we have to understand. We have asked the local authorities to check the RC book of the respective vehicle owners, like tractors and then release the diesel to them. We will also check whether some people are involved in hoarding of the fuel with malafide intention,” CM Fadnavis said.
The person who owns the petrol pump said that it is true that the supply of fuel is restricted and they have to wait to fill their tankers. “The delay in supply has caused panic in farmers; therefore, the farmers who used to get 30 litres of diesel for their tractor, now they are not only filling the tractor tank but also coming with an additional drum to get an additional 30 litres of diesel as a precaution. This issue is solved, there is a constant supply of fuel at the source,” he said, requesting anonymity.
