CHENNAI: Petrol bunks in the city have been overwhelmed by panic-stricken crowds since Wednesday night, triggered by rumours of a fuel shortage.
The rush comes close on the heels of a shortage of domestic LPG cylinders, which had already left residents on edge. From late Wednesday evening, large crowds began thronging petrol stations across the city, with regular office-goers and other commuters lining up for considerable amounts of time to refuel their vehicles.
M. Karthick, a resident of Saidapet who was refuelling his bike at the Bharat Petroleum station in Velachery, said he was taken aback by the unusually long queue. "Usually, I wait less than two minutes at the fuel station. Now, I have been waiting for over ten minutes. This is eating into my time, and I will definitely be late for the office today," he said.
According to the manager at the Velachery Bharat Petroleum station, sales have nearly doubled. "We usually sell between 13,000 and 16,000 litres per day. However, on Wednesday, sales rose to 26,000 litres. Similarly, our diesel sales also saw a significant spike from 7,000 litres to 13,000 litres," he explained.
Night shift workers at the station described the past few hours as exhausting. "People have been swarming the bunk. Most customers are filling their tanks to the brim as a precaution to avoid a potential shortage," one worker told reporters.
Despite the rush, the manager sought to reassure the public. "The arrival of a large number of vehicles will not cause a shortage of petrol or diesel at our station. We have enough stock, and our regular distribution channels have not indicated that any shortage will occur," he said.
Some customers admitted that their decision to queue up was driven by external factors. A. Rajan, another customer filling his car, cited geopolitical tensions as his reason. "Due to the Israel-Iran conflict, a shortage could occur at any time. Because of that, I decided to get a full tank, as a precaution," he said.
Another bike owner said he had been influenced by those around him. "I refilled just two days ago, but since many of my neighbours and relatives are stocking up, I decided to fill my tank again on Thursday morning due to pressure and social media posts," he added.
A few others questioned why the public tends to panic even when there is no actual shortage of fuel. Meanwhile, the manager at the petrol bunk also issued a word of caution: "We strongly restrict the public from filling petrol in water bottle cans."