Petrol pumps across Manipur valley shut after bomb attack

Petrol black marketers mushroomed on roadsides across Manipur valley as with the commencement of indefinite shutdown of petrol retail outlets in protest against alleged extortion threats on Saturday.
Nearly 130 petrol pumps across Manipur’s valley districts and peripheral areas remained closed, starting from late Friday evening, in protest against bomb threats, rampant extortion and the rise in ‘unbearable’ monetary demands by suspected militants.
The Manipur Petroleum Dealers Fraternity (MPDF) has called for the indefinite closures citing security concerns after the suspected militants set off a bomb at Ms Elidas Oil Pump at Moirang Thana Leikai under Moirang police station in Bishnupur district on Thursday evening.
Before announcing the indefinite closures, the MPDF wrote a letter to Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, seeking his office’s immediate intervention in addressing the fraternity’s demands.
The key demands of the MPDF included the government to ensure no similar incident of bomb threats takes place in future by enhancing security of petrol pumps, dealers and staff.
The fraternity also called for the “government to take full accountability in case of any future incidents like bomb blast, kidnapping, and be liable to compensate for damage at petrol pump infrastructure and also maximum monetary compensation if dealers or staff gets injured or killed in such incidents henceforth.”
The MPDF further demanded compensation for the damages caused by the recent bomb blast at the fuel station, M/s Elidas Fuel Station in Bishnupur district while expressing grave concern over the latest bomb threat.
Meanwhile, essential services, including transport of school students, daily commuting, and supply chains, are severely disrupted by the closure of the petrol pumps.
The closure of official fuel outlets also caused significant hardship to the public as they had to buy petrol at highly inflated prices, more than double the official rate, from black markets.
The closure further resulted in the rapid proliferation of black-market fuel sales across the valley district, with petrol being openly sold in bottles and other unapproved containers along roadsides and in residential areas.
With all fuel outlets remaining shut, people were forced to rely on the black market, where petrol was sold at rates as high as Rs 150-190 per liter, compared to the official rate of around Rs 100 per liter.
A school student transporter, who was seen buying petrol from the black market, said the closure of petrol pumps severely affected his service as he has to buy petrol by paying more from the black market.
On the other hand, a petrol pump owner, who did not to name, described the recent incident as a stark reflection of the worsening security situation faced by business communities in Manipur.
He said petrol pump owners and their employees were frequently subjected to threats, extortion and, in some instances, abduction, creating an atmosphere of fear.
It made them a challenging to continue operating despite providing an essential public service.
While regretting the inconveniences caused to the public due to the closure of petrol pumps, he said the dealers were left with no option but to highlight their predicament with such a form of protest.
He asserted that like others, the petroleum dealers also paid illegal taxes while transporting products along the national highways but they could not hike the prices of the petroleum products, unlike other commodities like potatoes or onions or cement, while retail selling to cover for the illegal taxes, he added.
In a recent memorandum addressed to the Manipur governor, the fraternity expressed serious concern over public safety, stressing that petrol pumps serve hundreds of customers daily and that any act of violence at such locations could endanger lives and property.
The dealers appealed to the authorities to enhance security measures and create conditions that allow businesses to function without fear.
In response, the Manipur police enhanced security by deploying mobile police teams at strategic locations to ensure safety of petrol retail outlets besides enhancing anti-extortion mechanisms to thwart threats to retail outlets of petroleum products.
It was amid this enhanced security measures the recent bomb explosion at a retail outlet in Bishnupur district.