Petrol pump strike in Lucknow

Lucknow, Nov 17: All petrol pumps in the state capital have downed their shutters indefinitely protesting against alleged illegal sealing of a petrol pump by the officials of the Hindustan Petroleum Corportation Limited (HPCL).

Lucknow Petrol Owners Association (LPOA) president Mohammad Jubeer told UNI here that all the 130 petrol pumps of the district have been shut down since 0600 hrs this morning.

''We will only start the operation after the sealing order of a petrol pump by the HPCL situated near Vidhan Sabha is revoked'', Mr Jubeer said.

Three days back HPCL has ordered 45 days sealing of Uma Charan Petrol pump and slapped a Rs 50,000 penalty for misbehaviour with the officials during the routine checking of the products by the company.

All the HPCL petroleum outlets were observing strike for the past three days but the situation worsened when other companies' outlets joined the agitation this morning.

A general manager level officer of the HPCL has been rushed to Lucknow today to investigate into the issue.

However, Mr Jubeer claimed that the action of the HPCL officials was illegal as despite three hours of rountine check they did not found any irregularity and hence made an allegation about the misbehaviour.

''It was totally a one-sided affair as the petrol dealer was not given an opportunity to put forth his views before taking the action,'' he said.

Meanwhile, commuters were facing severe hardship due to the lightning strike by the petroleum outlets, which affected city bus services.

UNI