JOIN USMotorists, especially those who love going on weekend trips, may not want to hear this. But petrol pumps will be closed every Sunday starting May 14 and all the filling stations in Karnataka will be open only for 12 hours during the daytime from May 15 onwards. The decision came after the Karnataka Federation of Petroleum Traders decided to join the agitation launched by the Consortium of Indian Petroleum Dealers (CIPD) demanding an end to ‘anomalies’ in dealers’ commission.
Amith Kamath, a doctor, sites many issues that may arise as a result of this decision. “It will create inconvenience in case of an emergency on a Sunday. What if somebody has to visit a doctor and they run out of fuel in their vehicle? Worse still, the ambulance of a private hospital may run out of fuel after multiple trips. What will they do then?” he questions.
“There will probably be lesser cabs and autos plying on the roads due to the fuel shortage and hence, lesser options to commute on a Sunday. One may have to go outside the city limits to get fuel. That may not be much of a problem for youngsters but certainly one for older people living alone. People may also be left stranded at night on the road in case the fuel runs out in their vehicle. Additionally, storing tanks of petrol or diesel at home is not safe either,” he adds.
Abhinav Talgeri, founder of ‘Monks on Wheels’, a travel startup, says, “It will not be a big problem for a regular commuter as they can get fuel filled on Saturday and keep it stocked for Sunday. But for those travelling out of the city over the weekend in their own vehicle, it will pose an issue. We organise adventure trips all over the state and travel every weekend on our bikes. Every 200 km, we need to stop at a petrol pump. Given this decision, we will have to think now.”
He feels that the ever-increasing number of vehicles in the city would probably offset any anomalies in the dealers’ commission and that the government should make things easier for motorists, rather than taking a step in the opposite direction. Vikash Singh, CEO and co-founder of ‘Sportzify’, observes that people tend to fill up fuel when they are almost running out of it. “In the present scenario when pumps are working full-time, given that each of them has three to four filling stations, the waiting time is about 10 minutes and crowd management tends to be an issue. If they are planning to reduce the hours, the crowd management should be extraordinary else people will get very irritated. The Sunday closure, though, shouldn’t be such a problem,” he details.
Mariappa, manager at Bowring Service Station, St Marks Road, also feels that this will pose difficulties for them. “As it is, there are more vehicles at petrol pumps over the weekend and with this decision in place, Saturdays will become unmanageable.”
On his part, B R Ravindranath, president of the Petrol Pump Dealers Association, explains, “This decision will definitely cause some inconvenience to motorists. But there are many issues that we have also been facing like reduced margins, transportation problems and pilfering of the product. We have been fighting for these causes for decades and it’s high time they arrived at a fair deal now.”
Anushree Agarwal