Barwani: Petrol pump runs dry due to lack of supplies, leads to black marketing

Barwani (Madhya Pradesh): Silawad village in Barwani district is facing a petrol crisis as the petrol pump in the village has gone dry due to lack of fuel supplies from petroleum companies for more than four days now.

Nayra Petrol Pump, the sole fuel station in Silawad village, is located on Sendhwa-Kushalgarh highway. Due to this shortage, the common man is troubled, forced to fetch fuel from faraway places to continue with their day-to-day work.

Residents in both urban and rural areas said they are facing huge inconvenience due to the continuous non-availability of fuel, following which officials from the consumer affairs department directed filling station owners not to issue fuel in cans or bottles.

Panic-buying has been triggered among residents, as the current shortage of petrol in the village has led to black marketing of the fuel purchased from petrol stations located around 15 Km away. This petrol is then being sold to the locals in bottles and containers. These middlemen buy petrol at the rate of Rs 112 per litre, and sell it at an inflated price starting from Rs 130 per litre openly on the main road with audacity. Petrol traded in this manner is usually filled in plastic bags or empty water bottles, which is a dangerous practice.