The West Bengal Petroleum Dealers’ Association on Monday called a 24-hour strike by petrol pumps across the state in protest against oil marketing companies (OMCs) for allegedly not meeting the long-pending demands of petrol dealers. Most fuel stations are likely to remain closed from 6 am on Tuesday.
The association’s members claimed that the OMCs had carelessly handled the introduction of ethanol-blended petrol (EBP) without due consideration for the technical aspects.
In a statement, the association said, “Improperly blended EBP is highly hygroscopic, it absorbs water (from atmospheric humidity and rainwater seepage into the underground tanks at petrol pumps) which later settles out into a separate layer.
