Kolkata, August 6: The ongoing strike by a section of fuel tankers of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has affected about 900-1000 petrol pumps in south Bengal and some of them have gone dry, petroleum dealers said on Friday. The IOC, however, ruled out any major crisis and said that the issue over the new tender rules will be resolved within a day or two.

The West Bengal Tankers Association went on strike from Thursday morning in the IOC's Mouraigram depot in Howrah district and no tanker has carried petrol and diesel from the depot since then.

A meeting on Friday between the tankers' body and the IOC remained inconclusive and the strike will continue, the Association's Mourigram unit secretary Rajkumar Chatterjee said. In the new tender, the IOC trimmed demand for tankers by 60 and reduced tariff by 30 per cent, he said adding that the strike will continue until these issues are resolved. Petrol and Diesel Prices in India on August 6, 2021: Fuel Prices Remain Unchanged; Check Rates in Delhi, Mumbai and Other Metro Cities.

"Pumps are getting dry. Mourigram depot supplies some 750-800 pumps of IOC and partly of HPCL (Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited)," West Bengal Petroleum Dealers Association joint secretary Prasenjit Sen said.

He said that around 900-1000 petrol pumps have been affected by the strike since Thursday and some of them have gove gone dry. Pumps of the IOC and partly the HPCL in Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, North and South 24 Parganas and in parts of Nadia district are serviced by the Mourigram depot.

An IOC official said that it is an internal issue about the tender and it will be resolved in a day or two. "We have enough stock at other depots such as in Haldia and we will organise supply to fulfil the gap," the official said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)