Kerala: Alappuzha pump owners stop supplying fuel to police vehicles after pending bills mount to Rs 1 crore

By Aishwarya Nair | First Published Feb 15, 2024, 11:16 AM IST

The Alappuzha pump owners have stopped supplying fuel to police vehicles after pending bills amounted to Rs 1 crore. The Kerala government has not yet paid the bills since last November.

Alappuzha: The owner of the petrol/diesel pumps in Alappuzha stopped providing fuel to the police cars when the arrears exceeded Rs one crore. In Alappuzha city, the crisis has become worse. Since November, the government has not given the owners of the pumps a single rupee.

A nighttime collision between a police jeep and a bike occurred in Alappuzha two days ago. The incident happened as the Alappuzha South CI office's jeep was returning from Edathua after filling up with fuel. The biker died in the collision. To refuel, the police jeep in Alappuzha town must travel 26 km to Edathua. While the Alappuzha South Police jeep was filling up with fuel from Edathua, the accident occurred.

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The police officers find it challenging to run to numerous locations to get fuel. The majority of the city's petrol pump owners have ceased providing police cars with fuel. The proprietors of the pumps owe more than Rs 1 crore in Alappuzha alone. Not a single penny has been paid to the pump owners since last November. The money owed to the pump owners is due as a result of the government's financial difficulties. The money was previously paid in less than a month. For the first time, the arrears have surpassed three months in duration.

Other government agencies in Alappuzha city, such as the collectorate, are required to give the owners of the pumps lakhs of rupees. The proprietors of the pump are in a position where they are unable to pay the enormous police arrears. Police vehicles in the district require fuel worth Rs 35 lakh every month. With this, various stations were instructed to fill fuel from pumps located far away from the city, which is not too burdensome.

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