As the nation-wide truck driver protest against the recently enforced Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) grows, gasoline stations in many states are seeing lengthy lines. This jump in demand is being driven not by anticipated gasoline price increases, but by growing concerns that the continuing truckers’ strike would disrupt the fuel supply system. The fear is that if the demonstrations continue, crucial supplies will be in limited supply. Protests have arisen in a number of states, including Bihar, Punjab, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, particularly in response to the new BNS’s punishment for hit-and-run incidents. 

Drivers who cause a significant road accident due to careless driving and flee without telling police or any official from the administration risk up to 10 years in prison or a Rs 7 lakh fine under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which replaces the colonial-era Indian Penal Code.

ALSO READ | Truck Drivers’ Protest: Why Truckers Are Opposing New Law For Hit-And-Run Cases — Explained

Top Points

• Chetan Modi, head of the Petrol Dealers Association in Mumbai, told PTI that the gasoline supply to petrol stations has been disrupted since Monday due to the drivers’ strike. “Petrol pumps started getting dry since yesterday. If we won’t get the supply, most of the pumps will run out of fuel from today,” he said.
• Local transit was disrupted in the city of Vidarbha on Tuesday owing to a ‘chakka bottleneck’ caused by truck drivers, according to a local functionary of the Shiv Sena (UBT), which is supporting the protest. 
• Members of several truck driver groups met in Nagpur’s Samvidhan Chowk to protest. They intended to proceed to the district collectorate later to present their requests to the administration.
• On Tuesday, numerous fuel outlets in Himachal Pradesh were turning away vehicles, claiming that they were out of supply because petrol and diesel were not being carried due to the truckers’ strike.
• Most fuel outlets in Dharamshala, Kullu-Manali, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Chamba, Una, and Shimla were closed, with long lines forming outside those that remained open.
• Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu of Manali, on the other hand, stated the situation was under control but may worsen if the strike persisted. In response to a query, Sukhu stated that the Union government needs to comprehend the truck drivers’ concerns.
• Motorists waited in long lines at gas stations throughout Punjab and Haryana on Tuesday, fearing that supplies might run out soon, while truckers stayed off the highways to protest harsher penalties in the new hit-and-run law.
• Private bus operators and several auto-rickshaw unions in Haryana have also joined the protest against the new provision, and some petrol outlets in Ambala have reported a gasoline scarcity. Vehicle owners panic-bought petrol in Chandigarh, the two states’ joint capital.
• According to a transporters’ group, the strike by truck drivers over a clause in the new criminal legislation on hit-and-run accidents involving cars has hampered the movement of roughly five lakh trucks in Madhya Pradesh.
• Many passengers were spotted stuck at the Inter State Bus Terminus (ISBT) in the state capital Bhopal on Tuesday morning, as drivers did not run inter-city buses.