Huge rush at Meghalaya petrol pumps after Assam transporters stop fuel supply
Shillong(PTI): Massive queues of vehicles were seen at petrol pumps across Meghalaya on Thursday evening after the apex body of petroleum workers in Assam said it has stopped transportation of fuel to the neighbouring state.
Hundreds of vehicles were seen waiting at the petrol pumps as people scrambled to fill up tanks fearing shortage. The queues of vehicles led to traffic snarls in Shillong and some other parts of the state. Police officers were seen regulating the movement of vehicles at some petrol pumps where motorists turned unruly while waiting for their turn.
The Assam Petroleum Mazdoor Union (APMU) sent letters to all PSU oil marketing companies, including IOC, HPCL and BPCL, informing them about its decision to not load fuel in tankers.
The union expressed concern over the safety of Assam vehicles in Meghalaya amid violence following the killing of six people at the inter-state border.
"Our drivers and handymen were attacked when there were disturbances in Meghalaya earlier. Some of them were critically injured. They have become handicapped for their whole lives. We cannot take any risk again," APMU general secretary Ramen Das told PTI.
He alleged that trucks supplying non-petroleum products were pelted with stones in the last two days but "no harm has been done to oil tankers as of now".
"Therefore, we have decided not to take any load from today onwards until and unless Government of Meghalaya assures us (of) the safety and security of T/T (tank trucks) crews," the letter said.
The rush for fuel at the Meghalaya petrol pumps began after the letter started circulating on social media.
The Petrol Pump Dealers Association of Meghalaya said it has asked the state government to intervene to resolve the crisis.
Six people, including a forest guard, were killed in violence at a disputed area along the Assam-Meghalaya border on Tuesday, after a truck transporting illegally-felled timber was intercepted by forest personnel of Assam.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
