‘Visiting petrol pump was like going near a celebrity’

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Jalandhar, January 2

Today was an unexpected day. Nobody had thought that anxiety would grip them on the second day of the New Year. Long queues were witnessed outside the petrol stations. While several people had to postpone their plans of venturing out, some got late in reaching their function venues as scores of people waited for hours to get petrol and diesel filled in their vehicles.

Due to the chaos, people who had important work today and needed petrol in their vehicles suffered a lot. “Mainu do ghante lagg gaye diesel lain layi,” said Kirpal Singh, a farmer from Musapur village in Jalandhar.

One from Nawanshahr, who had come here to attend a function, said that he couldn’t even reach the event on time because he got stuck at a petrol pump. Several people were holding empty bottles and standing in front of the petrol pumps to get their fill.

Satwinder, a serviceman who had to go to Una today, said, “I had to get diesel filled today in my car. But because I couldn’t do it, I have now postponed the plan. I could not even enter the premises of the petrol pump, it was like trying to go near a celebrity,” he said in disappointment.

“It is pathetic that because of the government’s decision and someone else’s protest, we are left to suffer. Now, I am going to get medicines for my ailing relative and on my way, decided to get petrol filled in the scooter. What will I do now? I hope I can reach there on time. Just look, people have thronged the petrol station,” he said. It was only after the DC released a statement clarifying that the situation was under control that things normalised a bit.