There Is No Visible Effect Of Administration's Advice In Kashmir, Long Queues Are Still Visible At Petrol Pumps And LPG Agencies.
People are nervous due to the fear of shortage of petrol, diesel and LPG due to rumors related to the West Asia conflict in Kashmir. Despite the administration's assurance of adequate stock, long queues are being seen at petrol pumps and LPG outlets across the valley, including in Srinagar. People are buying fuel in large quantities unnecessarily, leading to temporary shortages and chaos.
Crowd at LPG distribution centers and fighting to get the cylinder.
Jagran correspondent, Srinagar. Despite repeated assurances from the administration that there is ample stock of essential commodities available in the valley, chaos at petrol pumps and LPG outlets across the valley has not abated as rumors of shortage of petroleum products linked to the ongoing conflict in West Asia created anxiety among residents.
Even on Friday, long queues were seen outside petrol pumps in Srinagar and other districts, people came in vehicles and carried cans and bottles with them to fill petrol and diesel. Due to the sudden increase in demand, many passengers had to wait for hours to fill petrol and diesel.
There are long queues even for LPG
A huge crowd also gathered at the LPG distribution centers to get the cylinders. In many areas, this crowding led to delays and temporary shortages at local outlets. Some petrol pumps temporarily closed operations after running out of stock, while others turned away customers due to heavy crowds. Abdul Hameed, a resident of Srinagar, said, “I had to wait for more than an hour due to the heavy crowd, but finally I was successful in filling petrol.”
He cited the rumors of petrol diesel shortage and possible energy crisis spreading on social media as the reason for this panic. Hameed said, whenever such rumors spread, people first run towards petrol pumps. Hafiz Gauhar, a petrol pump owner, said that there is no shortage of petrol. There is still a lot of petrol in my petrol pump. However, I have been dealing with huge crowds of people for the last 10 days.
People are spreading panic unnecessarily
On an average, people get 10-15 liters of petrol and diesel filled from here. Gauhar said, people are nervous and in this nervousness they are buying Petrel diesel which will create problems for the administration in future. There is enough supply, he said, but people are spreading panic unnecessarily. Here some outlets are limiting sales to control the stock. In Srinagar and other districts of the valley, huge crowds of people gathered at petrol pumps and LPG outlets throughout the day.
It is noteworthy that on Thursday, four petrol pumps were sealed in South Kashmir for violating the rules. However, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had insisted that there was sufficient stock of all essential commodities including petroleum in the valley and there was no need for people to panic. But people are currently taking the administration lightly and are busy stocking petrol, diesel, LPG and other essential commodities in their homes.