With each passing hour on Friday afternoon, queues at petrol stations in the city became longer. Tempers flared after dealers claimed to have run out of fuel. Police were summoned to some spots to pacify anxious motorists.
The long queues at the fuel stations spilled over on the roads and vehicular movement was affected in many parts of the city. A flash strike by petroleum transporters threw supply out of gear for most of the day. One man said that he went to four petrol stations and was confronted either by long, stationary queues or dealers who had run out of stock.
The genesis of the problem lies in an accident near Devaragonti near Hoskote, where oil companies have a terminal that caters to most parts of the city. “Villagers blocked the roads. This lead to a flash strike by truck drivers,” said B.R. Ravindranath, president of the Bengaluru Petroleum Dealers’ Association. Eventually, the Regional Transport Authority intervened and ensured the passage of trucks into the city.
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Dealers expect the situation to stabilise by Saturday morning after over 200 trucks carrying fuel entered the city on Friday evening.