LAHORE: Transporters and commuters suffered as a result of a drastic slash in the supply of petrol to the provincial capital city, as 80 per cent of filling stations in Lahore closed down Thursday.

A representative of the associations of petroleum dealers told Dawn that the remaining pumps, which were open, would also be shut down if the supply of petrol was not restored.

Lahore's daily consumption of petrol is 2.5 million litres whereas the current supply to the city stands at 400,000 litres.

There are a total of 280 filling stations operating in Lahore. At least 119 of the filling stations are owned by the state-owned oil company PSO while the rest are privately owned.

Transporters and commuters were the worst to suffer as long ques were seen at the filling stations which managed to remain open.

Commuters complained that due to fuel shortage the transporters had tripled the fare, causing hardships to them.