Long queues of vehicles at LPG stations in Karnataka trigger fears of fuel scarcity

Bengaluru: Autorickshaws and cars running on Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) queued up before the gas stations in certain parts of the state on Wednesday owing to shortage in supply.

The government said the problem was only with the LPG stations of private oil companies and not the state-owned oil companies.

“I am trying for LPG for my autorickshaw for the past four hours, but I am not getting it anywhere. All my stock is getting exhausted in search of gas,” Abdul Kareem said at an RT Nagar-based LPG station.

Another autorickshaw driver, Mateen, said he towed his vehicle to the LPG station at RT Nagar only to be disappointed.

“This is a serious issue for us where everyday earning matters to us because we have EMIs of our autorickshaw, house rent and children’s education and our day-to-day household expenses have to be taken care of. For the past two days our earning has shrunk due to the LPG shortage, which affects us a lot,” Mateen said.

In Chitradurga, a vehicle gas station had closed its gate owing to gas shortage.

In Mysuru as well, a private petrol and diesel service station had blocked its entry and exit points by putting up barricade.

Autorickshaw drivers staged a protest in front of an LPG service station in Ballari after the supply was stopped. It was also learnt that the price has been increased by Rs 10 per litre.

Santosh, an autorickshaw driver, said everywhere the LPG gas costs Rs 84 per litre, but a private oil company is selling it for Rs 94 per litre.

The situation was no different in other parts of the state.

According to the Adarsh Auto and Taxi Drivers’ Union president M Manjunath, this problem is mainly with the private oil company service stations.

“There is normal supply of LPG for vehicles in state-owned oil companies, but the issue is with the private companies. They are either not supplying or they have increased the price. The government should look into it,” Manjunath said.

Karnataka Food and Civil Supplies Minister K H Muniyappa admitted that the problem is only with service stations of private oil companies and not the government PSUs.

According to him, the private companies have hiked the price, which has caused the problem.

The Minister appealed to the Centre to crack the whip against the private companies.