RAWALPINDI: The twin cities and adjoining areas experienced a petrol shortage on Thursday for the third consecutive day. Motorists were seen shuttling between filling stations in search of fuel.

Most filling stations suspended sale of diesel and petrol and long queues of cars and motorcycles were witnessed at the few stations where fuel was available. The long queues also caused traffic jams on many small and large roads.

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is already unavailable and the shortage of fuel caused inconvenience to residents who lashed out against the authorities for their failure to restore supply of petroleum products.

A large number of people were seen waiting at bus stops for the few public transport vehicles still on the roads. Others resorted to walking to their destinations on foot.

“I have been waiting for one hour to have my car filled with petrol,” said Aftab Ahmed, a motorist at the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) filling station on The Mall.

Many residents unable to reach schools and offices

He said that the petrol filling stations cannot stand the decrease in oil prices and are trying to pressurise the government into raising prices again.

Another motorist, Mohammad Rafique, said that he could only get a few liters of petrol after waiting for almost two hours. “I think I will have to keep my car off the roads for a few days,” he said.

A teacher at a private school, Sahil Hussain, said that he could not reach his workplace because he had to wait for two hours to buy petrol. He said that the government has failed to regulate filling station that have created a shortage.

When contacted, Commissioner Zahid Saeed said that there was shortage of fuel in the Rawalpindi division and he had contacted the oil companies who assured that supply will be restored overnight.

“Oil companies have assured us that in urban areas additional supply of fuel will arrive tonight and things will improve on Saturday,” he said. He added that the shortage was due to gap between demand and supply.

He said the federal government was working to restore supply as soon as possible but it is likely to take time.

He added that teams had been constituted to keep a check on those filling stations that are suspending sale.

According to petrol pump owners’ association of Taxila, more than 75 per cent city stations had gone out of operation by the time this report was filed and more were closing.“The city stations are getting only 30 per cent of their demand and the situation is deteriorating further,” said an owner of a filling station.

Some managers at filling station cited foggy weather conditions for the fuel shortage.

They warned that if supply is not restored soon, motorists will witness the worst petrol shortage in years.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2015

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