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Our Bureau

Auto-fuel supply may return to normalcy by Wednesday evening

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Kolkata Jan. 30 The weeklong tanker strike — which crippled life in Kolkata and its adjoining districts due to acute fuel crisis, especially for last two days — has been temporarily called off. As tankers resumed to service from 4 pm on Tuesday afternoon, auto-fuel supply is expected to return to normalcy by Wednesday evening.

Following a meeting with the State Transport Minister, Mr Subhas Chakraborty, the West Bengal Tanker Association (WBTA) suspended their strike temporarily. The association has given 15 days time to public sector oil companies to meet their demand for payment of a minimum freight charges of Rs 130 per kilo litre (KL).

"We have decided to defer our strike for 15 days following an appeal by the Transport Minister and considering the hardship faced by the people in the State," the WBTA President, Mr Ajit Das, told newspersons stressing that they would not enter into any agreement with the oil companies until and unless their demands were met.

Resolving Crisis

Tanker operators went on strike beginning January 25, demanding increase in freight charges from Rs 111 to Rs 170 per KL. Mr Chakraborty, who was sympathetic to WBTA's demands, said that he had a discussion with the Union Petroleum Minister, Mr Murli Deora, on the issue. Mr Deora, who is now in abroad, had reportedly assured help resolving the crisis once he was back in the country.

Mr Chakraborty said, "I appealed to the tankers' association to defer the strike and resume supply from today. They have faced the problem for long. I requested them to bear with the situation for another 15 days. I hope that some solution will be found."

Earlier during the day, Mr G.C. Daga, Director-Marketing of IndianOil, called on the State Chief Secretary, Mr Amit Kiran Deb, and appraised him about the issue. Mr Daga had reportedly also sought State intervention in resuming supplies to retail outlets.

Talking to Business Line a senior IOC official, however, maintained that the tender committee of public sector oil companies had made their last offer at Rs 122.67 per KL, which is the highest rate offered in the country to the tanker operators.

Products Prices

Meanwhile, the strike has not impacted the supply or price of vegetables and other food products. All seasonable vegetables were available in adequate measure in all markets in the city. Tomatoes were available for Rs 10-12 a kg, green peas for Rs 12 per kg and cauliflowers at around Rs 5 per piece. The price of onions, however, went up on Tuesday by Rs 1.50-2 per kg.

Vegetable vendors said most of the seasonal vegetables sold in different markets in the city during this part of the year are procured from local sources. These vegetables are mostly grown on the fringes of Kolkata and on its outskirts. As such, there has been no disruption of supplies to the city on account of the strike. Since there was no scarcity, prices have also not moved up. Only the price of onions — brought from outside the city — has gone up marginally.

More Stories on : Trade & Labour Unions | Roadways | West Bengal

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