Kolkata: strike by a fuel tanker was withdrawn on Saturday afternoon when Indian oil Corp was arrested at a new transportation rate in the midst of a crisis in hundreds of charging stations in South Bengal, their association said.
Hundreds of fuel pumps in South Bengal, including Kolkata, ran dry because of a strike that began on Thursday night, said the dealer.
The tanker association in the Mourigram IOC depot in Howrah, which serves the region, is on strike a fuel transportation reduction as a newly floating tender.
“The IOC extends the existing exchange rate so that more negotiations can occur and the normal supply can be maintained,” Secretary of the Mourigram Unit of the West Tanker Association, Rajkumar Chatterjee told PTI.
A spokesman for IOC confirmed that the strike was withdrawn but did not divulge details of the agreement that was beaten with the fuel transporter.
The strike affected around 900-1,000 fuel pumps in the region, influencing public transportation, essential supply movements and private vehicles, said dealers.
The strike was drawn when IOC plans to rush to push fuel to several pumps from Haldia and other depots to meet demand in Kolkata, 24 parganas, Nadia, Howrah, Hooghly and Urban Agllomerat.
IOC has fuel depots in Haldia, Durgapur, Mourigrams, Malda and Siliguri in the state.
The tanker association also protested the termination of the service of 60 tankers.
“When the costs rotate, how can you cut the fuel transportation level? They also stop the service of 60 tankers in their new tender,” said Secretary Secretary of the Association.
“The survival of many people is associated with this tanker,” he added.
The IOC spokesman previously said that a similar tender floated even for Terminal Siliguri, Durgapur, Haldia and Malda in the past year.
“Such tenders floated every five years for the spread of tank trucks and the last layed in 2014.
The tender was due since April 2020, which was suspended due to demand from transport,” he said.