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Diesel is now out in troubled Sri Lanka, anger among people due to power cut for 10 hours

According to officials and media reports, diesel and main fuel for buses and commercial vehicles are not available at stations across the island. Petrol was being sold, but due to short supply, motorists were forced to leave their cars in long lines.

“We are removing fuel from buses for repairs in garages and using that diesel to power serviceable vehicles,” Transport Minister Dilam Amunugama said.

Owners of private buses – which make up two-thirds of the country’s fleet – said they had already run out of oil. At the same time, transport services may not be possible after Friday.

“We are still using the old stock of diesel, but if we don’t get the supply by this evening, we won’t be able to work,” Jemunu Wijeratne, president of the private bus operators’ association, told AFP.

At the same time, the state power monopoly said that they will be forced to cut power for 13 hours from Thursday. Which will be the longest cut ever, as they do not have diesel for the generator.

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“We have been promised a new supply in two days and if that happens we can reduce the period of power cuts,” Ceylon Electricity Board chairman MMC Ferdinando told reporters.

He said that hydroelectric power reservoirs are also very few, which provide more than a third of the electricity demand.

Meanwhile, long power cuts have forced the Colombo Stock Exchange to limit its trading for half to two hours, while several offices have asked non-essential employees to stay at home.

Operators said the power outage also affected mobile phone base stations and affected call quality. He said that even his stand-by generators do not have diesel left.

The shortage of diesel has sparked outrage across Sri Lanka. Local television across the country showed hundreds of reports of motorists blocking main roads in several cities. Many government hospitals have put off surgeries because they run out of essential life-saving drugs, while most have stopped all tests that require imported chemicals and are in short supply.

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Let us tell you that Colombo imposed a comprehensive import embargo in March 2020 to save the foreign currency needed to service its $51 billion in foreign debt. But this has led to a widespread shortage of essential commodities and a sharp rise in prices. The government has said that it is seeking funds from the International Monetary Fund while seeking more loans from India and China.

The Covid-19 pandemic has worsened the situation in Sri Lanka, as it has affected the tourism sector here. Many economists are blaming the government’s mismanagement, including years of tax cuts and budget deficits.

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(Except for the headline, this news has not been edited by the NDTV team, it has been published directly from the Syndicate feed.)

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