Long queues at Nagpur petrol pumps as truck drivers protest against hit and run law | Watch video

Maharashtra: Truck drivers on Monday staged ‘rasta roko’ protests across the state against the provision in the new penal law regarding hit and run road accident cases involving motorists. The protestors raised the specter of fuel shortage in some places. An office bearer of the Association said some petrol pumps in the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district have already stopped functioning, according to a report published by the news agency Long queues have formed at many petrol pumps in Nagpur city.

People crowd up fuel pumps to fill up their vehicle tanks fearing a shortage of fuel as truck drivers protest against the hit and run law. An official informed a policeman was injured in when a group of truckers attacked him in Nerul in the morning hours, prompting cops to use force to disperse the mob gathered on the Mumbai Bengaluru Highway.

He said at least 40 truck drivers were arrested in Navi Mumbai, of these, six persons involved in beating up the policeman have been identified. In Thane, truck drivers briefly blocked traffic on the Mumbai Ahmedabad Highway in the Mira Bhayandar area and hurled stones at police personnel, leaving a policeman injured.

A police vehicle was damaged in stone pelting. They said road blockage protests were also held in Solapur, Kolhapur, Nagpur, and Gondia districts. The situation in Navi Mumbai and other places is under control, the officials added. In Nashik, tanker drivers stopped work and parked more than 1,000 vehicles in Panewadi village, home to fuel depots, on Monday, as per reports.

Panewadi village in Nandgaon taluka has , Hindustan Petroleum, and Indian Oil and LPG filling stations, and fuel from these depots is transported to various parts of the state. Nashik District Petrol Dealers Association president Bhushan Bhosale said, “If the agitation is not called off, many fuel stations in Nashik district will run dry as they are not allowing dealers to fill their tankers.

The gates have been closed and not a single tanker was allowed to carry fuel." Under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), which replaced the colonial era Indian Penal Code, drivers who cause a serious road accident by negligent driving and run away without informing the police or any official from the administration can face punishment of up to 10 years or a fine of 7 lakh.

In the Kalamboli area, also in Navi Mumbai, at least 400 people gathered on the Mumbai Bengaluru highway and staged a rasta roko for the withdrawal of the new provision in the penal law in the afternoon, police said. Similar agitations were also held on the Uran Nhava Sheva Road in Raigad district on the border of Mumbai.

An association of in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar city in Marathwada region also said fuel pumps in the district may go dry by Tuesday if the situation does not normalize. Speaking to Aqeel Abbas Secretary of Petroleum Dealers Association said, “Drivers of tankers that carry fuel from Panewadi (in Nashik) have called for agitation and have stopped filling fuel." “Around 900 to 1,200 tankers carry fuel from depots of oil companies and transport it to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jalna, Dhule, Jalgaon, and other districts," Abbas said.

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