DERA GHAZI KHAN

Acute shortage of petrol continued for the fourth consecutive day because of which a numbers of bikers and motorists were seen seeking the fuel across district Dera Ghazi Khan here on Tuesday.
The people in search of petrol were frantically moving from one petrol station to another in the city while long queues of cars, motorcycles and other vehicles were seen at the opened petrol stations. Despite the long queues and demand, the stations were providing the petrol worth Rs100 to Rs500 per vehicle.
Talking to The Nation, Jamaat-e-Islami Punjab Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Usman Farooq said that the shortage of petrol had proved poor governance of current PML-N led government. It had not been able to solve even basic problems of Pakistan like shortage of power, gas and now petroleum products, he regretted. Petrol shortage had created uncertainty and confusion in mind of the masses, he added.
During a visit to a station at College Road, the petrol seekers expressed severe dismay over the situation. They urged the district administration to take steps for giving relief to the people in this regard.
Sajid Aziz, owner of a petrol station, said that the Petroleum Agencies PARCO and PSO were not supplying them with petrol so they kept their filling stations closed. He said that more than 200 pumps were facing 60 percentage shortage of petroleum across the district. In normal condition, consumption of petroleum products in DG Khan district was about Rs0.4 million litres per day. Despite the full payment of their allocation quota, the petroleum agencies were supplying only 40 percent petrol of their quota, he said.
“Due to the critical situation, a corrupt mafia of oil depots is selling petrol at Rs82 per litre while original rate of petrol is Rs79.20 per litre,” he added. He said that supply of around 150,000 tonnes of petrol had been delayed due to the tussle between the PSO and the Ministry of Ports and Shipping on payment issues.
“In the backdrop of the situation, the owners of illegal sale points of petrol in several populous areas are looting the people by charging Rs120 per litre petrol,” he said.