- 2 days ago
Fuel panic is sweeping across Indian cities as long queues form at petrol pumps from Hyderabad, Nagpur, Prayagraj to Lucknow, triggered by social media rumours and actual shortages.
Category
đ
NewsTranscript
00:03Fuel panic is sweeping across cities, queues getting longer and rumours spreading faster than facts.
00:12From Hyderabad, Nagpur to Prayagraj and Lucknow, petrol pumps are witnessing chaos like never before.
00:23In Maharashtra's Jalna, panic buying triggered by social media rumours led to massive queues, forcing authorities to step in with
00:31strict limits.
00:32200 rupees for two wheelers, 2000 rupees for cars and a complete ban on fuel in containers.
00:39Officials insist there is no shortage.
00:43In Nagpur, fuel queues spilling onto roads, traffic thrown into disarray and commuters left stranded in long jams.
00:55Hyderabad tells a similar story.
00:58Endless lines of autos and cars, despite repeated assurances from authorities, that supplies are stable.
01:04But the rush refuses to slow down.
01:11In Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow and Prayagraj are gripped by the same fear.
01:19Midnight queues, temporary pump shutdowns and citizens scrambling with cans, all sparked by rumours officials call completely baseless.
01:30And in a bizarre twist from Madhya Pradesh Devas, a bank employee ditched the fuel line altogether and rode a
01:36horse to work.
01:39Meanwhile, the opposition has criticised the centre for fueling panic and failing to ensure adequate preparedness.
01:48The 30 people's party didn't have anything to do with the line.
01:53No one has made their decision, we will put them in line.
01:58But this time, the people have made it to mind that they will be able to do with the line.
02:04They will work to do with the line, and that's why we have covered with the PDA.
02:14As panic peaks, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath stepped in, warning against
02:19humor-mongering and urging people to buy fuel only when necessary.
02:23His message is clear, don't let fear fuel chaos.
02:58While petrol supplies remain stable, this episode is a reminder of how quickly fear
03:04can spread and disrupt daily life.
03:08Bureau Report, India Today.
03:15Even as the West Asia war is casting a long shadow in India's energy security, its ripple
03:20effects are now being felt on ground in certain states.
03:22You just saw there, one of the states is the state of Gujarat.
03:27I spoke to the Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat, Mr. Harsh Sanghvi, and this is how he allied
03:33fears.
03:33Listen in.
03:36There are a lot of things being said because there is a war happening in West Asia.
03:39Gujarat has been saying a lot.
03:41You are from the state.
03:42In the state, there have been closed industries, whether there is labor or energy crisis, LPG
03:48crisis.
03:49There are many industries coming from that.
03:52People are standing in line.
03:54There is no truth.
04:01There is no truth.
04:03What is this state?
04:05Where is the state?
04:07The state is a massacre.
04:09The state is right, that the Iran and Israel are in war.
04:15The state is right.
04:16But this is right.
04:18The state is right.
04:44à„€
04:49But it's not that there is no gas.
04:51It's shortage.
04:52There is shortage.
04:53It's shortage.
04:54It's shortage is coming.
04:55But it's balancing and supply it in this situation is a big deal.
05:01But in social media,
05:03when you know,
05:07every time you become journalist and every time you keep your mind and you become a perception,
05:12then it's wrong.
05:13There's no industry closed.
05:43There's no industry closed.
06:07There's no industry closed.
06:11There's no industry closed.
06:42There's no industry closed.
07:13There's no industry closed.
07:13There's no industry closed.
07:17There's no industry closed.
07:52There's no industry closed.
07:53But we have to, when the prime minister says a COVID like situation, you've got to make the best of
07:59it, unite as a country and deal with the crisis on hand.
08:03Two minutes, ma'am.
08:04Your time.
08:05Go ahead.
08:05Good evening, everyone.
08:07When you said the government is doing enough, I asked, is the government doing enough?
08:13Prime Minister Modi made a statement after 22 days of absolute panic and chaos in the country.
08:19The panic, as is claimed by the Bharti Janta Party and the Prime Minister himself is not fueled by the
08:26opposition leaders.
08:27They didn't go around in cities saying, look, the LPG is done.
08:30Panic.
08:30Panic was started when you initiated the Essential Commodities Act.
08:36Panic was started when you increased the fair prices of LPG by 60 rupees.
08:41Panic was, you know, started when commercial cylinder, there was a shortage of commercial cylinders and 60% of these
08:50restaurants and commercial eateries have closed down.
08:53Now, the panic is because government was nowhere to be seen.
08:57Poor communication, delayed response.
08:59What Prime Minister is doing now is just crisis management.
09:02Look at how they conveyed, you know, Jaishankar she comes and makes a so-moto statement on the West Asian
09:08war crisis.
09:10Opposition has said no supplementary questions.
09:12This is a crisis that's been, you know, the war has entered our kitchens, entered our households and the questions
09:18are not allowed by opposition leaders.
09:19Opposition leaders want it, what is our energy contingency plan, what are our reserves, but nothing.
09:25Hardipuri comes and makes a statement after a week, no supplementary question.
09:29And then the Prime Minister has, you know, after 22 days, realizes that he has to make a statement at
09:35the floor of the parliament.
09:36But it was just a glorified month. Again, no supplementary questions.
09:40And when you see, they say that there is no crisis before, but government sources there is a crisis, there
09:47needs to be a crisis.
09:48Then Prime Minister comes in the parliament and says,
09:50God forbid, we all have nightmares of how the government mishandled the corona times.
09:58There is an absolute shortage of oxygen supply.
10:00And that's why what we see at the petrol pumps today, the visuals that you have been showing in your,
10:05you know, introductory bite, is because...
10:08All right, ma'am, the time is up. I'll come to you.
10:10But a lot of those visuals were because of rumour mongering as well.
10:13And that's something we also have exposed.
10:15I also want to bring in R.P. Singh into this conversation.
10:18R.P. Singh, the larger question, is the government really doing enough to allay the fears,
10:23which have resulted at, you know, part rumour mongering and at part actual share shortage?
10:29And it's the common man that's suffering.
10:33Two minutes, sir.
10:38Do you think there is shortage?
10:40Do you know what are the petrol prices and how much they have cut?
10:4440% in Australia, the petroleum prices have gone up.
10:47Singapore, 34%.
10:49America itself cuts the...
10:51Spain, 31%.
10:53Egypt, 30%.
10:5411% cut the...
10:57R.P. Singh, we can't hear you.
10:58There's a problem with your audio.
11:00Can we hold his...
11:01There's a problem with your audio.
11:02Will you just fix it, sir?
11:04Or come close to the mic?
11:05Go ahead, sir.
11:06Make your point.
11:09Well...
11:11He...
11:13No, but intendingly,
11:18just...
11:20Remember when the first thing started...
11:23Sir, there's a problem with your audio.
11:24We are having a bit of an issue with your audio.
11:26Can you please correct your audio?
11:27And we're going to try and come back to you.
11:29There's a problem with R.P. Singh's audio.
11:31We're going to try and fix it.
11:32And he will get the four minutes together.
11:35What I'm going to do is I'm going to give one minute
11:37to the Congress spokesperson
11:38and we'll go back for three minutes to R.P. Singh.
11:41And to bring in Pujatrapati back into this conversation,
11:44Pujatrapati, you have one minute.
11:45But the sheer fact, what we pointed out earlier,
11:49it's a time of crisis.
11:51We are collateral.
11:52We have no role to play in this.
11:54Instead of politics, the government would have us support them
11:57and try and deal with the crisis.
12:00That's what Preeti opposition said.
12:02Every member of opposition party on the first day of parliament,
12:05they said that we want to keep aside the no-confidence motion
12:08against the speaker.
12:09We want to have a discussion on the West Asian crisis.
12:12These are the elected members of parliament.
12:14And parliament is not somewhere you go and have a monologue
12:16and tell us this is happening.
12:18And there is so much miscommunication.
12:21On 3rd March, government says, sources says 25 days of reserves.
12:26On 7th March, government again says 7 to 8 weeks.
12:28On 9th March, Suresh Gopi makes a statement in parliament
12:31that the reserves are for 9.5 days.
12:34On 23rd March, Modiji says that there are 58 lakh metric tons.
12:38That's amounts to 38 to 39 million barrels.
12:41And that's a strategic reserves for 7 to 8 days.
12:44You know, we understand that there is a crisis.
12:46But when will government try to communicate properly?
12:49And when will government take this seriously?
12:51That's what we have been asking.
12:53You know, you are tom-tom-ing all the election-going states.
12:56You are busy in election campaigning.
12:58And after 22 days, when you see that there is an absolute chaos,
13:01panic and mayhem at the country,
13:03you come and make a parliament speech and you say that...
13:07Ma'am, your time is up.
13:08You know, I just want to cut across to all the visuals
13:11that we've been getting in from across the country.
13:13And we would like to put this on record.
13:15While there are places where there is a shortage,
13:17a lot of the lines that you actually saw
13:19were from sheer panic and rumour-mongering.
13:21And that is the impact that happens when there is a shortage.
13:26Now, till now, with most of these queues,
13:30long-standing lines that you see,
13:32our reporters on ground have tried to figure what's really wrong.
13:34There have been shortages in certain areas,
13:36but in a lot of other areas.
13:39The long lines queues have been because of rumour-mongering
13:44and a sheer sense of panic.
13:45And one can understand because we've seen a COVID-like situation.
13:48And especially when the Prime Minister says
13:50that we need to unite our states in a COVID-like situation,
13:53people do go back to the times of COVID
13:56and that does send, you know, an ominous warning of sorts.
14:01So, therefore, the panic that you see on ground.
14:04Do we have R.P. Singh back? Yes, we have R.P. Singh back.
14:06R.P. Singh, your three minutes start now.
14:08Make your point, sir.
14:12Well, R.P. Singh, as I was saying,
14:16go back to timeline some 15 days back.
14:20The whole of the panic started from Bangalore,
14:23travel to Kerala, Chennai and Calcutta,
14:25young countrywide, when there was no shortage.
14:29LPG, normally a country gives something like 55 lakh LPGs
14:34are being used every day or booked every day.
14:37Almost 85 lakh.
14:39Obviously, there will be panic and there will be a mismatch
14:42of the supply and the service line.
14:46But let's understand the fact.
14:48Fact is, yes, there is a crisis.
14:51We are trying to work on the crisis.
14:52And till now, we have been able to manage it well.
14:56I was giving you an example of countries like Australia,
15:00where it's 40% increase in the crude,
15:02sorry, in the petroleum prices, the retail petroleum prices.
15:05Singapore, 34%.
15:06US itself is 33%.
15:08Spain is 31%.
15:10Egypt is 17%.
15:11China is 11%.
15:12Qatar is 8%.
15:14Hong Kong, 6%.
15:15Malaysia, 4%.
15:17And so on.
15:18I mean, I'm just talking about some major nations.
15:20But I should talk to you about Pakistan.
15:22I mean, the prices are almost rocket.
15:26They are touching the roof.
15:29I mean, it's almost 300 rupees plus for the petrol prices there.
15:33But coming to India, the petrol prices have been maintained well.
15:37There is no shortage of petroleum at all,
15:39petrol products at all.
15:40There's no shortage of even diesel at all.
15:43Yes, there is a concern about LPG.
15:46But again, as for the domestic LPG, the government has assured that yes,
15:50we will take our domestic LPG.
15:52We have already increased the PNG connectivity,
15:54so that whatever can be saved in the city can be passed on to the villages.
15:58And then yes, people have started working on the PNG level also.
16:02And then there is a good feedback also on that PNG part.
16:07But again, it used to be some 14 crore people used to use LPG before we came in.
16:13Today there are 33 crore people who use LPG every day.
16:16So, there is a problem and there is an issue of how things have changed in the last 10 years
16:25without the consumption level and without the population level also.
16:29Sir, you still have 45 seconds to go. You can complete.
16:33I can, but the issue is again, I reiterate that Congress should not be part of the panic machinery
16:42where they are trying to do so. Your channel has been quite good at it,
16:47that they are trying to show the exact ground reality that yes,
16:51there has been panic which has been created.
16:53Fact is, there is no shortage as I recreate.
16:55There is no shortage as far as petrol and diesel goes.
16:59There is a concern about LPG.
17:00But again, domestic LPG has been quite well taken by the Government of India.
17:04Commercial LPG, yes, it has also been boosted now.
17:08And again, from the state of Hamos, the ships have started coming in.
17:13As far as India goes and it is only the news is coming.
17:17Okay, sir. I am going to give one more minute to each.
17:19But, sir, there is a problem where domestic LPG is concerned as well
17:22because I can, you know, there is a problem, even where I live there is a problem.
17:26So, one cannot say that there is no problem in domestic LPG.
17:29Did you book your LPG 25 days ago and you were not delivered?
17:32Sir, you cannot.
17:32Yeah, I don't have it. They are not taking bookings.
17:35No, no, no. I can do it in front of you.
17:36No, no, no, no, no. Give me a second. No, no, don't do that.
17:40Sorry?
17:40I don't want to name where you stay. I don't want to name that area.
17:44But I also booked my LPG cylinder in routine and I got it.
17:49And they said, now you can book after 25 days.
17:52Not 25, sir. Let me correct you. 35 days.
17:55And you cannot book before 35 days.
17:57Any household...
17:58Sir, I will send...
17:59Sir, this, I will...
18:01You know, I don't want to get into a...
18:03It's not a one-upmanship.
18:05But take my word from it.
18:07You live in around the same area that I live in.
18:10And let me tell you, it's not 25 days anymore.
18:12It's 35 days.
18:13Any household that has over five to seven people needs a cylinder,
18:17more, at least two cylinders, where 35 days are concerned.
18:20So there is a shortage.
18:21And that's the concern.
18:23But yes.
18:23There's quite a good network of PNG in your area.
18:26Please switch to PNG and say, let's say LPG...
18:29Sir, I don't have PNG.
18:30So how will our PNG be done?
18:32You're saying, I don't have PNG.
18:33I mean, you're also in cylinder.
18:36Give me a second.
18:37So it's a...
18:38Give me a second.
18:39Give me a second.
18:39Give me a second.
18:39Yes, sir.
18:40My daughter is a lawyer.
18:42She runs her office.
18:43PNG connection has still to come.
18:44She just opened a new office.
18:46That's why the LPG was required for her office.
18:49My household still have a PNG.
18:51Sir, that's very good.
18:52Because at least mine hasn't been able to get one till now.
18:55But we're in the process of opening.
18:57I'm sure that PNG people reach out to your house now.
18:59Sir, thank you.
19:01Right after this, I'm sending you my address.
19:0210 seconds.
19:03Pooja Tripathi and then I'm closing the show.
19:06Right now, R.P. Singh Ji.
19:08Also, one mistake.
19:09R.P. Singh, in the name of R.P. Singh,
19:11Congress spokesperson was being written when he was speaking.
19:14I'm sure neither he appreciates.
19:15Ma'am, that's our producer's fault.
19:17What's the fault of R.P. Singh Ji?
19:21I'm telling to the show people.
19:24Not to R.P. Singh Ji.
19:26So when R.P. Singh Ji was mentioning
19:27that this country has this and this and this.
19:32Let's thank Lena.
19:33Let's run a campaign for thank you, Gyanesh Kumar.
19:36Because it's just because of elections that government is not increasing the education.
19:40That we don't know.
19:40But let's see if it increases after the elections.
19:42That's all the time that I have for now.
19:44I thank both of you for joining us.
19:45proveŃĐș.
19:45Give it a Bible about DWORDAnd
Comments