Tamil Nadu - Chennai   

Lorry operators’ strike fuels diesel crisis

CHENNAI: A strike by tanker and lorry operators, who are on contract with the Indian Oil Corporation’s Korukkupet terminal, affected diesel supply to 13 depots of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) across the State and 26 depots of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation in the city.

If the strike continues for a few more days, it threatens to affect bus services across the State, sources in the TNSTC told The Hindu on Thursday. Indian Oil Corporation officials confirmed that the fuel supplies had been affected.

However, as a temporary measure, the IOC has deployed its own tankers to supply diesel to the depots, they said.

The strike disrupted diesel supplies to the STC depots in Vellore, Kallakurichi, Viruddhachalam, Cuddalore, Panruti, Tiruvannamalai, Thirukoilur, Villupuram, Tindivanam, Tirupattur, Ambur, Gudiyatham and Kancheepuram.

Sources in the MTC, however, ruled out the possibility of fuel shortage hitting its services. But, a senior official of the TNSTC said the Corporation had enough stocks to run buses for another two days. He said they had resorted to rationing of diesel among depots to ensure that the services were not disrupted.

The demand for the services was expected to increase during the weekend.

While stating that negotiations between representatives of the tanker lorry association and the IOC were on, an official of the oil company claimed some of the lorries reported for work on Thursday evening.

Chennai Petroleum Tanker Lorry Owner’s Association secretary K. Velu said the protest was in support of their demand for more transport charges, which had gone up after the recent fuel price hike. Nearly 600 lorries transport fuel from the Korukkupet terminal every day.

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