People throng petrol pumps in Uttar Pradesh after rumors of fuel shortage on social media

Lucknow: People thronged petrol pumps in several towns in Uttar Pradesh after rumors of fuel shortage messages went viral on social media platforms triggering panic buying and prompting deployment of police personnel to control the situation.

According to the reports, many petrol pumps ran out of stock within hours as people queued up with whatever they could get, forcing the authorities to limit the sale of fuel at many places.

Reports said that the people started rushing to the petrol pumps from Wednesday evening following the rumors. Long queues of people were seen at petrol pumps in over a dozen districts in the state.

Sources said that in Varanasi, panic buying resulted in four times the normal sale of the fuel.

The officials visited the petrol pumps and assured that there was enough stock of fuel and asked them to refrain from panic buying.

A similar situation was witnessed in Raebareli, Aodhya, Prayagraj, Azamgarh, Lalitpur, Deoria, Ambedkar Nagar and some other places, the reports said.

People were seen carrying drums to the petrol pumps at several places. District authorities have asked the pump owners not to give fuel in drums and bottles.

The officials said that there was no shortage of fuel in the state and that there was enough stock. They also asked the people not to pay attention to the rumors being spread on social media in this regard.