Fuel scarcity continues
Source: The Sangai Express / Newmai News Network

Imphal, April 23 2015 : Scarcity of petrol in Manipur has caused huge inconvenience to the people of the State.

Distribution of petrol only at a few selected oil pumps has resulted in long queue of vehicles at these pumps in the past couple of days.

Even though there is abundant stock of petrol in IOC and other reservoirs of Manipur, pump owners have created this artificial shortage for the sole purpose of increasing their profit margin which is likely to be affected minimally by the reduction of oil price.

At this time of hardship, the State Government has been remaining silent and not intervening, thereby disappointing the public.

When this news agency enquired IOC and oil pumps for the prevailing situation, both the sides failed to give a satisfactory answer.

As of now, the situation in front of every oil pump is exactly a reminiscence of what one witnessed when there was prolonged economic blockade in the State.

Meanwhile, there is no dearth of petrol in the black market and the oil price in this market has become sky high, even reaching Rs 150 to Rs 200 per litre.

Petrol scarcity has, most of all, affected those unemployed youth who earn their livelihood through passenger vehicle services and taxi services.

Various section of the public have now started demanding that the State Government and pump owners give the real reason for the shortage of fuel.

Yambem Laba reports in The Statesman : The recent decision by the Union Petroleum Ministry to lower the price of petroleum might have brought cheers to the rest of the Nation but here in "Mafia" ruled Manipur it has brought woes to the thousands of petroleum consumers as almost all petrol pumps have ceased supplying the precious liquid and blackmarketeers are having a field day selling petrol at Rs100 per litre.This is against the official rate of Rs 58.39 per litre.

According to informed sources all this smells of a strong petroleum mafia at work involving officials of the Indian Oil Corporation, State officials of the Consumer Affairs Department and the petrol pump dealers.

The truth of matter is that neither the Indian Oil Area Manager and the Sales officers whose sole responsibility is to ensure that petrol collected by dealers from the Depot is sold at the prevailing market rate fixed by the State is actually sold through the metered nozzles of the petrol pumps is not done making it convenient for the petrol dealers to siphon off their petrol stock to the blackmarket instead of selling it at the reduced rate of their stock purchased earlier at a higher rate .

The State's Consumer Affairs officials whose job is also to cross check are also not doing their job for a cut in the profit.

However according to a Manager of a petrol pump, the problem arose when the Indian Oil Depot failed to ferry petrol from the refineries citing a series of holidays coinciding with the Bihu festival in Assam from where it is collected.

The Depot has only been supplying half of their normal quota and this coupled with panic buying by the consumers have led to the present problem, he added.

Petrol scarcity is nothing new in Manipur for everytime the Nagas or the Kuki tribesmen have a political demand their favorite tactics have been to resort to economic blockades sometimes running over 100 days and petrol prices had then shot up to Rs 250 per litre but this time there are neither bandhs nor blockades to warrant the situation except the reduction of the price of petrol.

According to a Manipuri who manages a petrol pump in Delhi, it is high time the higher ups in the IOC in Delhi have a serious look into the functioning of their Depots in Manipur for the IOC officials in Manipur are claiming that they are supplying petrol to the pumps regularly except that all petrol pumps in the State have remained shut with the most obvious question being, where has all the petrol gone then ! .

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