Motorists rush to petrol pumps on fuel hopes in Pune

Neha Madaan & Joy Sengupta | TNN | Updated: May 5, 2020, 07:31 IST

Vehicles and people came out in large numbers on Karve Road on Monday morning

PUNE: People began flocking petrol pump outlets to refuel their vehicles soon after partial lifting of curbs in Pune district on Monday, catching petrol dealers unawares as they had not received any official orders on resumption of dispensing fuel to all citizens.
Petrol retailers in the city said fuel was still being supplied only to essential service providers, as per the previous orders of the district administration. No new orders in this regard (resumption of fuel supply to citizens) were released by the district administration on Monday.
Source from Petrol Dealers Association, Pune, said, “We await the district administration’s communication on a revised order on the sale of fuel to all citizens. Till such an order is received, we will continue to supply fuel to only essential service providers.”
The source said, “It should be noted that citizens should not crowd at petrol pumps. People had crowded at petrol pumps in many places on Monday. If this continues, we would have to notify the police.”
An official from the district administration, however, said an official order pertaining to the supply of fuel to citizens was likely to be released on Tuesday.
On Monday, many people who had hit the petrol pumps located in the Kondhwa area were asked to leave, with the petrol dealers stating that they had not got any order to sell fuel to everyone from the authorities.
“We came to know from different mediums that fuel will be allowed for all from Monday. I came down to the pump but then the representatives didn’t allow me to enter. They said no order or directions in this regard had come from anyone,” Siraj Khan, who had gone to a petrol station at the Bibvewadi-Kondhwa Road, told TOI.
It was a case of confusion in the morning hours for many people, especially the transporters. “I was under the impression that diesel was being sold to all now and hence asked my drivers to go to the nearest pumps with their tempos and get the tanks filled up. However, fuel was denied to them,” a local transporter said.
Adarsh Jadhav, a resident of NIBM Road, said he borrowed some petrol from a friend to fill the tank of his two-wheeler so that it can reach the petrol pump. “I think that authorities of different agencies are completely confused. I literally took out fuel from my friend’s vehicle so that I could reach the pump. They told me that I am not going to get petrol,” he said.