Blackout leaves fuel stations running dry

PNS | Ranchi

As the employees of Jharkhand State Electricity Board and management remained at loggerheads throughout the day over implementation of 6th pay commission recommendations people had to bear the burnt.

The city faced complete blackout from 9 am on Tuesday morning on the one hand and shortage of diesel on the other. Most of the fuel stations were running out of stock throughout the day as far as diesel is concerned.

The situation arose after the city saw unprecedented power cut since morning which continued late in the evening in almost all localities of the Capital. The agitating staffs had on Monday threatened to disrupt the power supply in the city.

“Diesel at our station was used-up after 12.30 pm itself. We have not seen such a situation before. We sold two days of stock in a single day,” said Manoj, an employee at a Hindustan Petroleum’s fuel station near Lalpur Chowk.

The situation was the same across the city. Ramvilas petrol pump at Ratu Road also came across similar problem.

“There is no diesel available with us. We are struggling to run our own pump. If light does not come in 4-5 hours then the complete station would have to be shut down,” said the cashier of the fuel station.

The prolonged power cut forced business establishments and offices to switch on their generators to keep the electricity supply intact. The shortage not only disrupted business houses but also vehicular movement on city the roads.

“There is no diesel to fill. I had less fuel in the morning and planned to refuel the three-wheeler at the lunch time. But now I came to know that diesel is out of the stock. It has spoiled my today’s earning completely,” said Raju who runs his auto-rickshaw on Kutchery-Dhurva route.