Leader Writer: Hrishikesh Angom
The gasoline consumers of Manipur now have to confront with two major issues — price rise and adulteration. The drastic nation-wide hike in the price of petrol does not seem to bother the consumers of the state much. They had purchased the petrol at over Rupees 200 a litre at the time of 100-day economic blockade last year. The issue of price rise is minimal as compared to the grave issue of fuel adulteration. The recent crackdown of a fuel adulteration unit at Khurkhul indicates the presence of “Oil Mafia” in the state. In the past, fuel adulteration was limited only to some petty vendors who mix kerosene to petrol for meager profit, but now well-established adulteration units have sprung up with the emergence of oil mafia in the state. The supply of this adulterated fuel is now being channelized to various filling stations in the state, for instance Krishna Premi Oil City which was shut down by IOC officials after the petrol sold at this outlet was found to be adulterated. This could be a multimillion-rupee black business run by top-notch officials of the state. It is questionable that the kerosene oil which is to be distributed to the public by CAF&PD through Public Distribution System at subsidized price is easily available with the black-marketers while the public are deprived of this essential fuel. It will be worthwhile to note that very few households now use the kerosene oil with the coming of LPG as cooking fuel and low-cost electric and solar lamps for home lighting purpose. But still there is scarcity of kerosene in the state. The whole reason for such unreasonable scarcity of kerosene in the state comes to light from the recovery of large quantity of kerosene along with zero-density gasoline imported from Myanmar from the Khurkhul adulteration unit. This well-established unit is indicative of the presence of a strong oil-mafia and hence the state authorities should leave no stone unturned to bust such illegal activity.
At one time, the adulterated fuel known to the consumers was only sold by petty vendors who earned their livelihood by selling about 10 to 15 litres daily at the most. But, now fuel adulteration is common even in reputed filling stations. The impact of fuel adulteration is manifold. Environmentally, it could be more harmful by adding more poisonous gases to the atmosphere. It would be good if some research works are done to study the impact of adulterated fuel to the environment. Economically, it reduces the efficiency of the vehicles. Motor vehicles were once used for more than 30 years without any problem, but now the vehicles have become problematic after few years. This is the impact of using adulterated fuel. The impact could be much more than this and hence the state authorities as well as social organizations should strive to end such hazardous business. The consumers of the state would not bother much about the price rise if they are supplied the pure fuel. The crisis is not that simple as it appears.
Price hike of petrol may be due to rise in the price of crude oil in the international market, but there is no reason that the government cannot check fuel adulteration. It is high time everyone should join hands to fight black-marketers and illegal entrepreneurs of the state.