Shillong, Aug 22: Shillong is staring at a fuel crisis with most petrol pumps running dry and the few with stocks seeing panic buying and hours-long queues.
Consumers waited for hours on Saturday, moving from pump to pump as several stations shut after exhausting supplies. Those still operational stayed open till 11 pm and used extra parking space to manage traffic.
Samkhamti pump owner, Samborlang Diengdoh said he managed to get 35 kilolitres through a driver who braved the blockade, but warned it would last only two days. He appealed to people not to panic buy and flagged Meghalaya’s dependence on neighbouring states for fuel and essentials.
“An incident like this is just between the union and the government and all of a sudden the public has been made the scapegoat,” he said.
Petroleum Dealers Association general secretary Sanchit Surekha said a meeting with the Petroleum Mazdoor Union through Indian Oil on Saturday ended without a breakthrough.
The Assam Mazdoor Petroleum Union has stopped fuel transport to Meghalaya, demanding a permanent safety mechanism for tankers carrying highly inflammable cargo after repeated targeting of Assam-registered vehicles during Shillong protests.
Meanwhile, the Hynñiewtrep Petroleum Workers’ Union held an emergency meeting after AMPU’s call. President Daniel Wahlang and adviser Raja Collin Kharsyntiew said there is no formal restriction, but fear of attacks amid the transporters’ blockade has stalled movement.
The union has urged immediate government action.
They said the crisis could have been avoided if the stock depot for petroleum products and LPG cylinders in Ri-Bhoi, closed in 2010, was revived.
The demand was raised with the MDA-I government and Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma had acknowledged the need, but no concrete step was taken, they said.
