Like the rest of the country, there is a severe fuel shortage in Rajshahi. Even after a month, the supply of fuel oil has not returned to normal. Drivers are facing unbearable hardships due to lack of fuel. Many are keeping their vehicles in serial at filling stations all night in the hope of getting petrol and octane. Mosquito bites and sleepless nights are being passed on the roads. And even though they carry umbrellas with them during the day, many are falling ill in the heat of the sun. Due to the long wait, clashes between customers waiting at...
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Like the rest of the country, there is a severe fuel shortage in Rajshahi. Even after a month, the supply of fuel oil has not returned to normal. Drivers are facing unbearable hardships due to lack of fuel. Many are keeping their vehicles in serial at filling stations all night in the hope of getting petrol and octane. Mosquito bites and sleepless nights are being passed on the roads. And even though they carry umbrellas with them during the day, many are falling ill in the heat of the sun. Due to the long wait, clashes between customers waiting at some filling station and filling station employees are happening almost every day.
Oil is being supplied at every filling station after two to three days. This has made the crisis worse. Filling station authorities are claiming that they are not getting oil from the depot as per their requirements. That is why they are not able to sell oil every day. On Friday (April 10) morning, when we went to various filling stations in Rajshahi city, we could see long queues of vehicles waiting for oil. Many people are not getting fuel on time despite waiting for a long time. Due to excessive crowding and limited supply, the pump authorities are not giving more than the specified amount of fuel in many cases. As a result, on the one hand, the waiting time is getting longer, on the other hand, there is intense anger and dissatisfaction among the customers. The affected drivers said that due to standing in line for a long time, they are not able to reach their destination on time. This is especially having a negative impact on the income and livelihood of drivers of public transport and hired vehicles. The common people have demanded the intervention of the concerned quarters of the government to take effective steps to resolve this crisis quickly. Today, although fuel was supplied at the Rana filling station in Bhugorail, the motorcycle serial got stuck in front of the Baya Shishu Sadan, about 1 kilometer away. Farid Uddin, a motorcycle driver standing in the queue, expressed his disappointment, saying, “I paid for fuel, but I still can’t get it. Five days ago, I stood in the queue for 6 hours and got 300 taka of fuel. That was the last time, so today I’m standing in the queue again. I don’t know when I’ll get fuel. I hope this kind of suffering ends soon.” Another driver named Rabbi said the same thing. He said, “Doesn’t the government see the time we’re wasting by standing in the queue? There is enough fuel in the country. So why aren’t we getting fuel? Why is the government harassing us like this?” Rakib Hossain, manager of the Mercus Habib Filling Station located in front of Rajshahi Airport, said, “We don’t get the amount of fuel we need from the depot every day at our pumps. They also don’t supply fuel normally. We are selling fuel the way we get fuel. Many drivers are taking the queue every day to get more fuel than they need, which is why ordinary buyers are not getting fuel.” Afrin Filling Station Manager Md. Farooq said that the supply of fuel is completely inadequate compared to the demand. The amount of fuel they would sell in a week in normal times is running out in just one hour due to the pressure of excess demand in the current critical situation. As a result, many customers are having to return empty-handed after standing in long lines, which is triggering discontent and clashes. Meanwhile, in Rajshahi, the supply of diesel has increased slightly compared to petrol octane, but drivers complain that it is not sufficient. Long-distance truck and bus drivers said that they have also reduced their fares after not getting fuel. They are charging new fares only after getting fuel. Many are also parking their vehicles due to not getting fuel. Due to this, they are facing financial losses. We spoke to truck driver Jasim Ali at the Naodapara truck terminal. He said that they have to give up many fares due to not getting fuel. Jamis Ali said, “I got a fare for 16,000 taka the day before yesterday. But I gave up that fare because my car did not have fuel. If it continues like this, we will not survive. We have a family, we have our own expenses. How long will it continue like this?” Nazrul Islam Helal, general secretary of the Rajshahi District Road Transport Owners Group, said, “The oil crisis has had a big impact on our transport. Only due to the oil crisis, 5 out of 10 vehicles are parked. We have made a strong appeal to the government to solve this problem as soon as possible.” Noting that they are not getting oil as per demand from the depot, Rajshahi Petrol Pump Owners Association President Mominul Haque said, “We are not getting oil as per demand from the oil extraction company or the depot. We do not have oil in our hands, so we cannot provide it to the customers. If the supply is not normal, we have nothing to do.” Padma Oil Company PLC Assistant General Manager Mahbubur Rahman said, “The amount of oil that was supplied to the pumps earlier is still being supplied almost at the same level. But the demand has increased manifold. That is why there is chaos. Due to this crisis, BPC is not able to supply oil from Daulatpur. We are also not able to utilize the wagon facility anymore. Now dealers have to bring oil by road at a triple cost.
