Diesel supply disrupted in eight northern districts

Diesel supply in eight districts of Rangpur has been hampered due to the refusal of loco masters to work overtime and non-arrival of a scheduled consignment through the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline from across the border.

Due to the supply disruption, diesel shortages have occurred at fuel depots in the region at a time when farmers are busy cultivating Boro paddy and other winter crops. Demand for the fuel increases sharply in winter for irrigation.

Diesel is transported from Daulatpur to the Parbatipur depot in Dinajpur by rail. Besides, the depot also directly receives diesel from the friendship pipeline. Three state-owned distributors -- Padma, Meghna and Jamuna -- cater the fuel to different districts of Rangpur from the depot.

Due to the refusal of the locomotive operators to work extra hours as they continue to press their demand for higher salaries and other benefits, it is taking an additional four to five days for the fuel to arrive at depots, according to officials of Parbatipur depot.

Railway CGPY Master Abdul Malek told The Daily Star that due to various demands, loco masters are not willing to work for more than eight hours.

"Due to this, freight trains are stuck at various yards and depots. Train movement is being delayed," Malek said.

Depot officials said the smooth supply suffered another blow after the non-arrival of a dispatch of 7,000 tonnes of diesel from India through the friendship pipeline scheduled for November 25.

Preferring anonymity, an official said that the consignment did not arrive due to complications over opening of a letter of credit (LC).

It was learnt that the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) wanted its Indian counterpart to open an LC through one of its listed private banks while Indian officials preferred the State Bank of India.

The BPC has recently listed private banks alongside public banks for smooth transfer of payments amid the US dollar crunch.

BPC Director (operations and commercial) Anupam Barua acknowledged that the import of diesel through the pipeline from India has been disrupted due to LC complications.

"We have sent the names of several banks to the Indian oil company. They can transact with any bank from this list," Barua said without elaborating.

Due to the supply disruption, distributors said their expenses have increased.

Atiqur Rahman, owner of Akbar and Sons, a fuel oil dealer in Rangpur, told The Daily Star they are not getting the required diesel from the depots.

"To meet the shortage, diesel is being supplied by lorries from Baghabari. This has increased our expenses," he added.

Contacted, BPC Chairman Md Amin ul Ahsan told The Daily Star that fuel transport has been disrupted due to the agitation of railway loco masters.

"Efforts are being made to resolve the issue by discussing it with the secretary of the railway ministry," he said, adding that two railway wagons with diesel have already left for Rangpur and Sylhet.

He also said that initiatives have been taken to quickly resolve the LC complications in importing diesel from India through the friendship pipeline.

"We are expecting diesel to reach Rangpur through the friendship pipeline from India in a few days," the BPC chairman said.

Bangladesh has so far imported 55,000 tonnes of diesel from India this year. The last dispatch of 4,000 tonnes of diesel came on November 12.