BHUBANESWAR: With Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealing for consumption cut amidst an unending West Asia crisis, petrol and diesel suddenly went short across major urban centres of the state on Tuesday.
Fuel shortage was reported in Khurda, and outlying places such as Koraput, Malkangiri, Sundargarh and Nabarangpur districts.
In Khurda district, petrol pumps restricted the sale of petrol to `200 and `1,000 for bike and car owners respectively. Some service stations in the state capital Bhubaneswar ran dry on the day too, forcing citizens to look for other options.
The shortage continued at fuel stations in Rourkela for the third consecutive day with some putting out-of-stock signs. A long queue of autorickshaws could be seen at pumps in the steel city with their operations getting severely affected due to the shortage of fuel.
Pump owners in Rourkela acknowledged they are putting a restriction on the sale of petrol and diesel to ensure they do not run dry completely.“We are witnessing panic buying due to the shortage and also over reports that fuel prices will increase soon,” a service station owner added.
However, insiders pointed out that the shortage had nothing to do with stock and was caused by a sudden increase in demand of fuel in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh as well as temporary supply disruption. There is no depletion of fuel stock in the state because of the ongoing Middle-East crisis, they added.
“A sudden surge in the demand of fuel in Andhra Pradesh spilled over to the neighbouring districts in Odisha.Cargo trucks carrying essential commodities from Andhra Pradesh to Odisha and North East started refilling in the state which led to an abrupt increase in demand in southern districts by 40 per cent to 70 per cent last week,” said All India Petroleum Dealers’ Association general secretary, Sanjay Lath.
In other districts, large retailers were unable to refill as they failed to make payments to the oil companies due to banks remaining closed on the weekend which added to the temporary shortage. The petrol pumps across the state have received supply from the four depots in Jatni, Paradip, Balasore and Jharsuguda on Monday, he added.
Meanwhile, the state government on the day asserted that there was no shortage of petrol and diesel and assured people that fuel stations are functioning normally across Odisha.
There is sufficient stock of petrol and diesel both in the state and the country, said Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare minister, Krushna Chandra Patra.
He added that there is no restriction on volume of sale but advised customers to buy and consume fuel judiciously till normalcy returns.
The daily consumption of petrol and diesel in the state stands at 3,600 kilo litre and 8,600 kilo litre respectively.
