Petrol and Diesel panic in Gujarat leads to unsafe storage practices. Today there has been a big movement of petrol pumps across other parts of Gujarat to collect them. People are bringing in cookers, kitchen jars, milk cans, water buckets, barrels -- and even tankers to store petrol and diesel in storage. The panic bought has erupted because of rumours of a fuel shortage and the storage policies.
Long queues at fuel stations as many stations get people into every box or container they can find appear to have been recorded in various videos and websites that show people filling up those boxes. People aren’t bringing proper fuel cans themselves, but household devices such as pressure cookers and jars they can then take for use. A huge volume of demand is not to be underestimated and government officials have since assured people that petrol or diesel is still plentiful in the state.
Fuel sales in Gujarat increased four to five times over normal levels. To tackle this, authorities have given permission to certain groups to purchase fuel from containers under restriction of the kinds of fuel to control prices. Farmers can buy fuel up to 200 litres and telecom customers that consume as much as 1,000 litres. Once sales were restricted to vehicle tanks, it is now sold to prevent hoarding.
Petrol and diesel stored in household containers can cause a lot of bad habits when the fuel can quickly burn out and ignite fires and explosions if they don’t get put in there properly. The fumes even lead to poisoning or respiratory issues.
Social media has been flooded with videos of people filling cookers and milk cans with petrol. Some people mock it and worry about the risks. At the Petroleum Ministry, people should remain calm and should not make it unsafe to carry gasoline, they said, and supply remains safe in the country.
Fake information and panic buying for fear of scarcity can lead to fake shortages producing real emergencies, and it could only cause people to panic which could lead to a shortage of supply and a dangerous environment. Why this incident in principle indicates that clear communication between officials and users must be done; and by citizens. The truth is fuel is essential, but hoarding it is dangerous and can increase the risk without solving the problem.
The panic buying of petrol and diesel in Gujarat shows how quickly rumours can propagate and unsafe habits arise. But as the government has reassured us that supplies are not endangered, people are still trading fuel in a very volatile manner. There is widespread awareness and tougher policing and better awareness campaigns are called for which accidents can be prevented and public safety of our lives can be restored if we make sure everybody is well prepared and more serious.
