Nine Northern Districts: Refueling stations not getting required diesel
Refueling stations in nine districts of the country’s northern region are not getting required quantity of diesel as current supply is no match for additional high demand for irrigation.
Three depots belonging to state-run Padma, Meghna and Jamuna oil companies under Bangladesh Petroliam Corporation (BPC) are facing short supply, according to BPC officials.
Of the oil depots, the largest one is located in Parbatipur upazila of Dinajpur while other two in Rangpur and Chilmari upazila of Kurigram.
There has been no diesel at the Chilmari depot since January 8.
At least 622 dealers of Dinajpur, Rangpur, Thakurgaon, Panchagarh, Nilphamari, Gaibandha, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat and Joypurhat collect diesel from these depots.
At the Parbatipur depot, the daily demand for the oil increased to 21,00,000 litres from 15,00,000 litres in one week as it is peak time for irrigation in which diesel is used to a large extent, said the officials.
During a recent visit to the depot, this correspondent found several tank lorry drivers waiting for their turns to receive fuel from there.
Altaf Hossain from Kurigram was one of them. “I got a lorry of diesel after a three-day wait,” he said.
Khademul Islam of Samata Filling Station in Dinajpur Sadar upazila said he got only 13,000 litres of diesel one day. “The daily sale is around 10,000 litres. My stock will be finished within a day and a half.
Belal Hossain, manager of Chowdhury Filling Station in Thakurgaon, said he initially collected diesel from Baghabari depot in Sirajganj as he did not get it at Parbatipur depot.
“After a week, I had to lobby for 13,500 litres from Parbatipur,” he said.
Rawshan Ali, general secretary of Dinajpur Petrol Pump Owners’ Association, echoed similar problem. “The situation is expected to improve after a week,” he said.
Majaharul Islam, superintendent of the depot of Meghna Oil Company Ltd in Rangpur, said this depot is running almost dry. “I have only 15,000 litres of diesel while daily demand is around 1.5 lakh litres,” he said.
Similar situation is prevailing at other depots, he said.
Ayub Ali, superintendent of the depot in Chilmari, said the depot was running dry since January 8. “The demand for diesel is now double,” he said.
Talking to The Daily Star, Mahbubur Rahman, a media spokesperson of BPC at Parbatipur, said, “There is no crisis of diesel, rather they are getting irregular supply of the oil.”
A wagon carrying 27,00,000 litres of diesel from India’s Numaligarh arrived at BPC site in Parbatipur on February 2.
With this, BPC had a stock of 66,00,000 litres, he said.
“Basically, the demand has gone up because of irrigation, which made the situation complicated to dealers,” he said.
Mahbubur Rahman, superintendent of a Padma Oil Company depot, said such a crisis is not unusual during dry season for irrigation.
Around nine lakh pumps are being used to irrigate 13 lakh hectares of land in the region, Khondoker Md Mesbahul Islam, a specialist of Department of Agriculture Extension in Rangpur.
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