In his third directive in less than 24 hours, Pune District Collector Naval Kishore Ram on Wednesday permitted petrol sales to private vehicles in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, after multiple contradictory directives by different administrative agencies left petrol pump owners and citizens confused.
The district administration has now allowed petrol pumps to remain open in Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and rural areas, barring containment zones, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m from Thursday.
On Tuesday, after a meeting between Pune MP Girish Bapat, the divisional commissioner, Mr. Ram and representatives of the Pune Petrol Dealers Association, the association said petrol sales could resume to all vehicles except autorickshaws and cab aggregators like Ola and Uber.
Yet, in a late-night volte face, Mr. Ram and top police authorities denied that any such directive had been issued and said fuel would only be sold to essential service providers.
A similar situation had occurred on Monday, with Pune Municipal Commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad and Mr. Ram apparently resuming fuel sales to private vehicles, only to revoke the directive by evening.
“We have been consistently following up on our request to reopen petrol pumps and had received a most favourable response from the municipal commissioner in this regard. Despite some hiccups, the matter is now finally resolved,” said Ali Daruwala, spokesperson, All India Petroleum Dealers Association.
‘Equally empowered’
The directive notwithstanding, the Pune Police have prohibited private vehicles from plying on roads. Only those with digital passes are allowed to travel.
The stream of contradictory orders has brought to the fore an apparent lack of coordination between top bureaucrats.
A senior district administration official told The Hindu, “What is happening is the divisional commissioner, district collector, municipal commissioner and the police commissioner are all equally empowered under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, and the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and are issuing directives under the laws.” For instance, he said that while the municipal commissioner had only locked down 3% of the city as containment zones, the police chief has locked down around 80%.
Sources said the police commissioner had objected to permitting sale of fuel to private vehicles as the police force would have a tough time controlling people, especially as liquor shops had reopened.
“So, while the civic chief may issue a directive, it would have no practical effect unless the police enforced it on the ground level,” said another official. Livid over the mess, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is said to have intervened to get the administration to stick to the fuel sales order, he said.
Shop timings
This seeming lack of cohesion between authorities has also incensed the Federation of Trade Association of Pune (FTAP), which has said it will not open retail stores until there is greater clarity.
“What is the meaning of issuing so many directives ... one on opening five shops in a street, while another stating all shops are to be closed. This has left us frustrated. Then there is the question of travel restrictions within the city,” said Fatehchand Ranka, president, FTAP.
Meanwhile, Mr. Gaikwad on Wednesday evening issued orders permitting all shops, barring those in the 69 containment zones in the city, to be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. In containment zones, only emergency services and shops selling essentials would be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.