Talks fail, petrol pumps run dry in Kolkata

Kolkata, Jan 29 (UNI) The transport system in and around Kolkata virtually collapsed today with nearly 300 petrol pumps running dry, even as talks to end the indefinite oil tankers' strike failed this afternoon.

The talks to solve the impasse among State Transport Minister Subhas Chakraborty, the striking West Bengal Tankers' Association and oil companies this afternoon failed even as the city transport system gasped for gas for the fifth day.

Ajit Das, Secretary Tankers' Association, said, ''The strike is on as the talks have not gone to our satisfaction.'' 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.

Last Friday, the IOC tried to bring fuel into the city in four of its tankers, but the vehicles were not allowed to roll in.

''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.

Ajit Das of the striking Tankers' Association said they would continue the stir unless their demand for higher transportation rate from Mourigram and Budge Budge depots were met.

UNI