Minister blames oil companies for tankers' strike impasse

Kolkata, Jan 29 (UNI) West Bengal Transport Minister Subhas Chakraborty today blamed the oil companies for the impasse in the ongoing tankers' strike after the tri-partite talks failed here.

Kolkata was left gasping for gas as 300 pumps in the city and around 1200 in the suburbs had run dry as the West Bengal Tankers' Association's strike entered the fifth day.

The tripartite meeting involving Mr Chakraborty, the striking West Bengal Tankers' Association and oil companies lasted over two and half hours and ended in a deadlock.

Ajit Das, Secretary Tankers' Association, said, "The strike is on as the talks have not gone to our satisfaction." Mr Chakraborty said, "The impasse is due to the rigid mindset of the oil companies. They had come here for the sake of formality and had no intention of ending the deadlock.

"The proposal they are giving is not acceptable. They are saying in my honour they can raise the hike from seven to eight per cent," he said.

The minister also gave a couple of proposals. He said the oil companies could supply with the 1200 tankers they have in their possession or raise the tankers' fee to Rs 130 per km.

However, the talks failed plunging the city into a crisis as they face a virtual transports strike with vehicles going off the roads fast.

Mr Das said, "The strike will continue till Wednesday when they meet again to reassess their position." A sizable portion of the private buses, taxis and mini buses went off the roads today, while vehicles were seen queueing up before the few petrol pumps.

The tankers' association is striking against the low hiring charges paid by oil companies. The existing rate for tankers operating from the Budge Budge and Mourigram depots near here, which supply Kolkata and adjoining areas, is Rs 110 per km, but the association is demanding almost double at Rs 200 per km.

A spokesperson for Indian Oil Corporation, the nodal agency for oil companies, reportedly said tanker operators had been offered rates on a par with their Delhi counterparts after the last contract ended in 2005.

It was learnt that the Delhi tankers get the highest rate in the country at Rs 120.80 per km.

"The situation is bad. About 50 per cent private buses could not ply due to non-availability of diesel in petrol pumps," Sadhan Das, president of Joint Council of the Bus Syndicate, said.

President of West Bengal Petroleum Dealers Association Tushar Kanti Sen said almost all pumps in the metropolis and its adjoining districts, including North and South 24 Parganas, Hooghly and Howrah besides, Nadia went dry as supplies were not comng from Maurigram and Budge Budge.

UNI