Nearly 250 petroleum outlets in Mysuru, Mandya and Chamarajanagar have suspended operations to protest over daily price revision which has come into effect from Friday.
As a result all sales of petrol and diesel have been affected while the dealers have also suspended purchase from oil companies. The Federation of Mysore Petroleum Traders has given the call for strike in defiance of the parent organisation which has suspended the strike in most parts of the State.
Dinesh, President of FMPT, said they are persisting with the strike as the daily price revision was not practical from the dealers’ point of view. “We have issues with regard to monitoring the price fluctuations but our parent body advised us that the dealers would be notified on a daily basis through SMS. While this may work in urban areas, traders located in rural hinterland will have a tough time making the necessary changes due to network issues,” said Mr. Dinesh.
He said a majority of the traders with outlets located in rural hinterland live in Mysuru and the employees cannot be trusted to make the necessary changes accurately.
The bandh which came into effect from midnight of Friday will last 24 hours and the FMPT will take a call on the next course of action at a later date, said Mr. Dinesh. While there are 250 outlets in Mysuru, Mandya and Chamarajanagar districts, about 80 outlets are in Mysuru city alone. While nearly 1.6 lakh to 2 lakh litres of petrol is sold daily, nearly 6 lakh to 7 lakh litres of diesel is sold across the region all of which has been suspended for a day.
However, a majority of the motorists had filled sufficient fuel in the days ahead of the strike and hence normal life has not been affected.
