Tanker strike leads to long queues in petrol pumps

Kolkata, Jan 28 (UNI) The statewide tanker operators' strike, which entered the fourth day today, led to scarcity in almost all the 1500 petrol pumps in West Bengal with long queues of motorists in front of most of them.

Some petrol pumps even hung the ''no stock'' board.

Though the scarcity for petrol and diesel in most outlets in the city and elsewhere could not be felt much till yesterday because of their near normal availability, the situation changed this morning with hundreds of buses,trucks,taxis,private vehicles and two wheelers making a beeline in front of petrol pumps.

In some busy pumps vehicles stood in queues for more than three hours. This also led to frequent altercation between pump employees and vehicle owners.

Incidentally,the disruption was caused primarily due to the refusal of about 2,500 oil tankers to carry supply from the Budge Budge and Maurigram terminals to the pumps.Though the state government decided to mediate in talks between the oil companies and West Bengal Tankers' Association,nothing tangible could be achieved so far.

Instead the situation has now almost come to a standstill as Tankers' Association president Ajit Das made it clear that the strike would continue till their demands were met. ''It is impossible for us to operate tankers with the amount of payment being given by the state-owned petroleum companies,'' he said.

Meanwhile,though the Indian Oil authorities have said that they would try to maintain normal services through their own tankers fleet from today, supply of petroleum products in South Bengal was severely affected because of the strike. The IOL authorities also criticised the tanker operators and termed their demand for higher transportation rate as ''unjustified''.

UNI