Huge rush at petrol pumps in Jammu and Kashmir amid strike
STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU/NEW DELHI: Countrywide protests by truck drivers against increase in quantum of punishment in hit-and-run cases in the newly-enacted criminal code impacted fuel supplies in some parts on Tuesday. The government reached out to the agitating transporters and after a late evening meeting between Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla and All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) representatives, the strike was called off.
“We had a discussion with All India Motor Transport Congress representatives. The government want to say that the new law has not been implemented yet. We want to say that before implementing Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 106/2, we will have a discussion with All India Motor Transport Congress representatives,” said Ajay Bhalla after the meeting.
Truck drivers had taken to streets across Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Some protests also took place in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal. They were demanding that the government withdraws a provision in the newly-passed Bharat Nyay Sanhita which increases the period of imprisonment from two years to ten years in hit-and-run cases,
AIMTC said that if the law is not back then most drivers will quit their jobs. Around 60-70 per cent of the trucks had not been on the roads for the last two days due to the protests. A significant number of the around 1 crore truck drivers in the country were on strike.
Top officials in Home Ministry explained that there is confusion regarding Section 106 (2) of the Bharat Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Under the BNS, Section 106 (1) provides for a punishment of 0-5 years, while Section 106 (2) provides for a punishment of 0-10 years in ‘hit and run’ cases.
However, there was massive queues at fuel stations across Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday.
The J-K fuel station owners’ association said 90 per cent of petrol pumps have gone dry in Jammu and in the next few hours, all stocks will run out as 1,500 tankers carrying fuel to the Union territory and Ladakh were on strike.
Hundreds of vehicles lined up at most of the fuel stations in Kashmir, leading to traffic snarls in some parts of Srinagar and elsewhere in the Valley.
Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, V K Bidhuri said, “There is an impact of the nationwide strike here as well. But we have 21 days’ stock of diesel and 24 days’ stock of petrol available at the depots in the Valley. We also have over 20 days’ stock of LPG available.”
“I have held a meeting with the representatives of the oil companies as well. There is no need to panic,” he added.
Meanwhile, a fuel station manager in Srinagar said their stock will last for another day at the most. “We had enough supplies to last four to five days, but since everyone is filling full tanks and there is a huge rush, the stock will last maximum for a day,” he added. In Jammu, some fuel station owners have also sought police help to deal with the situation.
