Mumbai: Motorists in Mumbai queued at some of the petrol pumps from late Monday evening to fill the tanks of two-wheelers and four-wheelers amid fears of a fuel shortage, triggering panic buying and concern among commuters. However, petrol dealers and official sources said there was no shortage of petrol, diesel or CNG in the city and urged citizens not to panic.Chetan Modi, president of the Petrol Dealers Association, told TOI the rush was caused by temporary payment-related issues at a few pumps and not by any disruption in fuel availability. “There is no shortage of petrol or diesel or CNG in the city. We have adequate stocks and pumps will not dry out,” Modi said.He said dealers had to make advance payments to oil marketing companies to purchase stocks, but because of two holidays and Sunday last week, some dealers could not deposit money on time. As a result, a few pumps could not keep reserve stocks and had less fuel on Monday, shifting the burden to other outlets and leading to long queues.“It’s just that we have to pay advance money for purchasing stocks from oil marketing companies. There were two holidays and Sunday last week. Money could not be deposited on time for a few pumps and therefore they could not keep reserve stocks. A few of them had less fuel on Monday. The burden was on other pumps, which witnessed long queues,” Modi said.He said the situation was expected to ease soon. “The problem will normalise by Tuesday evening. There is nothing to worry about,” he said.A source in the petroleum ministry in Delhi also dismissed concerns over any wider fuel crisis in the state, saying there was no shortage and that adequate stocks were available.Dealers said the rush was largely driven by panic buying and appealed to the public not to indulge in panic buying, stressing that fuel supplies in Mumbai remained stable.
