Petrol pump owners should justify their stir

PUNE, Jan 10: With reference to the ongoing agitation of the petrol pump owners to protest against the alleged highhandedness of the oil ...

PUNE, Jan 10: With reference to the ongoing agitation of the petrol pump owners to protest against the alleged highhandedness of the oil companies in sampling the fuel dispensed at the pumps, I wish to state that this is nothing but ganging up against the interests of customers, in fake self-righteousness.

The president of the Petrol Dealers Association PDA, instead, would do well to clarify on the following points to enlighten citizens about what the PDA have done on their own to stop adulteration of fuel sold from their outlets.

1 Are the members of the PDA not aware of adulteration of fuel being possible and in fact rampant, and if yes, since how long ?

2 Since the dealers seem to be aware of the many loopholes in the delivery system, what initiative did they take to plug these? This question is of added importance, since some pump owners are also operators of transport networks for petrol and diesel.

3 Did the Petrol Dealers8217; Association, in the past, voluntarily take any other steps towards eliminating adulteration of petrol ?

And have the oil companies introduced the latest measures in supercession of any measures which were proposed by the PDA?

Their agitation can be justified only if the pump owners can convince the citizens that they are also genuinely interested in giving customers value for their money and thereby also helping in controlling pollution resulting from adulterated fuel.

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G M Paranjpe 7, Bhatia Edifice 1, Kotkat Lane, Off Mumbai-Pune Road, Pune 411 003.

Daily train to Ahmedabad, WE have sought the starting of a direct train to Ahmedabad and we have been demanding it for over 30 years now. In 1995, at last, a train thrice a week was started when commuters were also promised that there would also be a daily train to Ahmedabad vis-a-vis to Pune. After that, quite many years have passed but to no avail.

The commuters will be very very grateful to the BJP government for starting a daily train to Ahmedabad and return, so that the waiting list which is in hundreds will be eliminated and save the commuters from hardship. In addition to tri-weekly trains, as many as 20 buses are plying from Pune to Ahmedabad and back. In other words, nearly 1,000 passengers are travelling by buses, besides travelling by cars.

There were two AC sleeper coaches when the train was plying once a week. But, on introduction of a tri-weekly, only one AC sleeper coach is attached, which need to be increased to atleast two. Or an AC car coach should at least be attached, which will commercially of benefit to the Railway Ministry.

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With the introduction of a daily train the traffic on the road will be reduced to a great extent, saving foreign currency spent on petrol and diesel, as also reduction in the traffic, avoiding road accidents to a great extent.

Kanubhai Trivedi, President Pune Pravasi Sangh, Pune.