Over 200 petrol pumps in north Bengal have run dry and fuel supply to parts of neighbouring Nepal and Bhutan is severely hit as oil tankers have not been able to move out of the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) terminal in New Jalpaiguri for three days with protesters blocking the terminal gate.
The trigger behind the impasse is a disagreement among tanker owners and drivers with IOCL authorities over the “low rates” that oil tankers are paid per kilometre to ferry fuel.
With Trinamul’s labour arm Inttuc (Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress) throwing its weight behind the protesting tanker owners and drivers at the gate, no tanker could move out of the terminal in three days.
