Since there were no petrol pumps in these areas the illegal sale of bottled or open petrol goes unchecked and open sellers fleece tourists in need. PHOTO: REUTERS
MANSEHRA: Poor planning of the divisional administration in Mansehra led to filling stations running out of fuel. This paved the way for illegal sale of petrol in bottles, in which some of the sellers without licence sold fuel for as high as Rs500 per litre.
Imran Malik, a tourist from Rawalpindi, told The Express Tribune, when his car exhausted the fuel about four kilometres from Kaghan he had to purchase petrol from the illegal seller for Rs500 per litre on the road side. Malik said he had no other choice to get out of the jungle where he was stranded.
Sohail, another tourist from Lahore, said there were only four petrol pumps in Balakot tehsil and only one had petrol being sold for Rs100 per litre. But, he added, to get his car refilled, he had to wait for at least two hours given the long queues there. He said he chose to move ahead and purchase bottled petrol from the small roadside stalls. Sohail added he bought fuel for Rs400 per litre.
He said the slow pace of movement on Shahra-e-Kaghan caused a number of vehicles to break down due to fuel shortage.
The tourist was of the view that poor planning on part of the administration was the chief cause that exposed them to worst conditions. “Otherwise Kaghan Valley has great potential to attract more than double the numbers of those who visited this time.”
When contacted Petroleum Association Hazara President Taimoor Shani Khan confirmed the open sale of petrol and diesel in bottles in the remote areas between Balakot and Naran in Kaghan. He told The Express Tribune since there were no petrol pumps in these areas the illegal sale of bottled or open petrol goes unchecked and open sellers fleece tourists in need.
About the question of fuel shortage he said the Hazara DIG had banned the entry of heavy vehicles in Hazara during the three days of Eid due to which the oil tankers were stopped near Haripur exposing both the petrol pump owners and tourists to great difficulties. He maintained filling stations had exhausted their available stock on the second day of Eid in Balakot and Mansehra which aggravated the problem.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 10th, 2016.
COMMENTS (1)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ