Tension grew over Sunday night as auto rickshaw drivers in Hyderabad staged protests over the lack of CNG and LPG fuel in the Attapur area. It comes at a time when most of the people living in Attapur region don't have a choice but to live without the fuels provided by.
Most auto drivers gathered at Pillar No. 291 in Attapur and blocked roads, and angry people sat in queues that amounted towards 1-2 km, many held for hours (as opposed to waiting two hours or so).
Three auto drivers climbed with protest on a nearby cell tower as they demanded authorities act to put a hold on the high fuel consumption. That immediately created panic in town and emergency services soon came to play in order to secure them all in the tower and bring them down.
And then the scenario got worse: another angry driver attempted self-immolation by pouring petrol on himself during the protest. Thankfully, police and neighbors took action quickly to avoid further damage to that person. When they arrived (it took place immediately) the man was hospitalised and was safe now.
Drivers are very worried about how long they can even tolerate in the face of continuing fuel problems. Most drivers have expressed that these erratic access of fuels is a huge impact on their income (or lack of incomes), and that has made them struggle for their families.
Contrary to the protests, the state government claims there is no real shortage of fuel and it is all an act of panic buying and refuelling that has caused short term disruptions to supply at some of the outlets.
Those driving however insist that the supply has not been sufficient to cover demand and the demand is not yet sufficient this is something even drivers on the ground say that’s not the case too. The drivers are calling out for immediate measures and fast action so that CNG and LPG supply will have a steady and sufficient supply to meet demand and better fuel distribution will be taken up in the fuel distribution system that avoids delays and uncertainty.
What the incident is doing in the daily lives of the people with daily wages show to you what sort of working environment is more important, not least for the effective communication and coordination of the authorities and the public.
More development is scheduled for a later stage in which officials assess how to respond, but what will be up to restore normalcy, they predicted.
