Bhubaneswar: A day after the truck and bus owners urged govt to resolve the fuel shortage issue, transport commissioner and senior officials of oil marketing companies on Friday said that certain fuel stations will be reserved for trucks and buses for filling diesel, also assuring them of sorting out the problem within 48 hours.Kamal Sheel, CGM and state head of IOCL, said they will identify specific fuel stations where the trucks and buses will get diesel in sufficient amounts.These decisions were taken in a high-level meeting attended by transport commissioner Amitabh Thakur, representatives of oil marketing companies, and members of the truck and bus owners’ associations.The truck and bus owners on Thursday had said they faced difficulties getting diesel at fuel stations, which had restricted its sale in bulk. The truckers anticipated a big supply chain disruption in the state if the situation is not addressed.Pranab Kumar Parija, general secretary of Odisha State Truck Owners’ Federation, said the authorities have suggested they would send a list of fuel stations, from where the trucks would receive diesel as per requirement. “They will create a WhatsApp group and coordinate with the filling stations for this purpose. We have told the officials to select the filling stations and give us the list for our use,” he said.Meanwhile, private bus owners on Thursday had threatened to stop plying their vehicles if they do not get fuel as per the requirement. They said the buses cannot run on restriction of fuel sale at filling stations.Debendra Kumar Sahu, general secretary of All Odisha Bus Owners’ Association, said the officials agreed to allot them at least two filling stations in each district where buses can get diesel without any restrictions.“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appealed to people to extensively use public transport instead of personal vehicles. “If we cannot ensure smooth running of buses, how can we promote public transport during this difficult time,” he asked.
