Team-BHP > The Indian Car Scene


View Poll Results: Your line of thought?
It's worth waiting in queue to fill up on the eve of a fuel price hike 35 5.80%
The saving is too negligible considering the effort, time etc. It's not worth it 568 94.20%
Voters: 603. You may not vote on this poll

Reply
  Search this Thread
47,238 views
Old 29th May 2012, 13:25   #106
Senior - BHPian
 
SPIKE ARRESTOR's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Germany
Posts: 2,854
Thanked: 1,529 Times
Fist fight

Scene from a fuel bunk in Chennai where people are facing severe fuel shortage problems. This fist fight was for jumping the queue.

Ridiculous! Waiting in a petrol pump queue on the eve of a price hike-1.jpg

Spike

Pic courtesy - The Hindu
SPIKE ARRESTOR is offline   (7) Thanks
Old 29th May 2012, 13:39   #107
Senior - BHPian
 
sandeepmohan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Wellington
Posts: 3,129
Thanked: 5,426 Times
Re: Ridiculous! Waiting in a petrol pump queue on the eve of a price hike

Voted No.

The madness and chaos at a gas station is not worth dealing with. We don't know how to stand in a straight line or do anything properly. I will queue up for a line that goes in a line. Anything else is just hell.

I was watching NDTV yesterday which was showing footage of gas stations in Chennai due to fuel shortage. People were standing in line with their Coke, Bisleri and Pepsi bottles. It sure lead to fights but it is a better way of getting some fuel than having your bike or car banged up. The scene in Bangalore when something like this happens is like a swarm of ants around a tree. You don't know which way to go our how to reach that tree without getting bumped.
sandeepmohan is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 29th May 2012, 13:46   #108
Senior - BHPian
 
S2!!!'s Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 1,918
Thanked: 10,064 Times
Re: Ridiculous! Waiting in a petrol pump queue on the eve of a price hike

Ok I must admit that I was one of the several waiting in line before the fuel price hike @ 10pm when the roads were empty and the pumps were over pouring with 'petrol' vehicles and ended up saving around Rs.208/ but the satisfaction I got in saving even such a small amount was worth the wait for 25 odd minutes. It is very difficult to save in today's inflation driven times. I had switched off my engine while in the line and must have switched on and off around 4-5 times.

While in the line I was looking around at people's reactions and the inevitable happened. Some not-so-smart drivers tried jumping the queue on the opposite petrol pump and some frustrated motorists who were patiently waiting for their turn exploded on to them and the those inconsiderate drivers were shooed away by the others.

After that scene I am really not shocked at seeing the above pic of a fist fight as that is soon going to be a common sight - fight over fuel. Its a pity but its a reality.

Last edited by S2!!! : 29th May 2012 at 13:49.
S2!!! is online now   (1) Thanks
Old 29th May 2012, 13:46   #109
BHPian
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Chennai
Posts: 185
Thanked: 50 Times
Re: Ridiculous! Waiting in a petrol pump queue on the eve of a price hike

Quote:
Originally Posted by supertinu View Post

Good point. I dont understand the economics but you are right, there must be a better way to implement price rise rather than mid night rule. Even within 1 hr of announcement would be good enough to ensure all the bunks get the communication.
Quote:
Originally Posted by normally_crazy View Post
One easy way to stop people from queueing up at pumps can come from the govt. itself.

Instead of announcing the price hike from midnight of the day it's announced, why can't they hike the prices immediately. The hike comes into effect when they finish reading the statement ! SIMPLE !
I think that wouldn't work due lack of conenctivity and network but anyway might be a good option having the fuel price hike "with immediate effect"!

In addition to that gov. can also announce the GO at the time when bunks are closed for the day like after 22:30-23:00.(Most city bunks are closed i guess at that time.) So, if one follow really needs to fill "cheap" he has to go to some highway bunk and that would already be selling at hiked price because of "immediate effect"! Make sense! or?

Last edited by Suess : 29th May 2012 at 13:47.
Suess is offline  
Old 29th May 2012, 14:39   #110
Senior - BHPian
 
carwatcher's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Bardez, Goa
Posts: 1,184
Thanked: 1,031 Times
Re: Ridiculous! Waiting in a petrol pump queue on the eve of a price hike

One thing to be observed that IMO to a very large extent MEDIA is responsible for all these fights and it is high time there should be some restraint on them.
If anyone remember, when prices were hiked earlier, it was via newspaper we get to know about the new rates and then we go to the Petrol pump in the normal way.
Nowadays an environment being created days in advance (PR exercise), then News is being broadcast as though sky has fallen (Maar Daala Aam Aadmi Ko type headlines on all the News channels) that also leads to the chaos.
One can easily conclude that things are going from bad to worse day by day.
carwatcher is offline   (2) Thanks
Old 29th May 2012, 15:10   #111
Senior - BHPian
 
kaushik_s's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 1,088
Thanked: 164 Times
Re: Ridiculous! Waiting in a petrol pump queue on the eve of a price hike

Quote:
Originally Posted by funkykar View Post
^ I have no issues with your side of coin.
Thanks.

Quote:
How long I use the items I purchase nor petrol is my own choice.
You didn't get my point. My question was about how long that savings would last as you've compared saving fuel before price hike to buying other stuffs.

Quote:
Traffic jams? Why blame people who queued up? Its also an assumption that every person in the queue is waiting to top and not in need of fuel.
It's the people who were making bee-line that has caused the traffic jam. Then who else to blame but these people? And to the 2nd point, exactly, why those people who were in actual need of fuel had to wait such long time in the queues? So that some other smart alack who is not at all in any real need can save 100rs??

Quote:
Blame the government. Why make announcement later afternoon. Dont they know by experience such a thing is bound to happen? Why not announce it as close to the time when it will be in effect. Or in simple, why not announce saying its immediate effect. This is the answer to other road users not getting fuel.
Agreed to the extent that Govt/authorities should announce the price hike with immediate effects as our citizens find it difficult to use their own intelligence in such scenarios.

Quote:
I, like many have it in my genes to save whenever possible. For you it might be just 300. For me it is not a just. Every money I have earned is mine.
Quote:
By the way, whats wrong with this mentality? I clearly dont understand. To save is a crime? I atleast did not go steal petrol from the petrol station.
Saving money is not a crime, I'm all for saving money. But definitely not at the cost of causing inconvenience to others by creating jams, having fist fights or in extreme case of causing destruction to others/other's property (read aplang1's post). No sir, that 300rs doesn't worth causing so much of trouble for others. I know what I'm saying is not going to convince you but if one day and God forbid, one of your close person is caught in a traffic jam because of such useless traffic/mob situation, while in dire need to reach somewhere then probably you'll understand that that 300Rs saved was really worth it or not.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rock 'n' rollz View Post
I think there are a lot of assumptions made to support this thread's argument. But we also need to keep in mind that
  1. Not everyone has to wait for hours before buying the fuel
  2. Not everyone has family members waiting back home to spend quality time with
  3. 200 Rs saved in an hour = 200 * 8 = 1600 / day. Doesn't that look like a significant amount? The saving would be substantial for people who could tank up their vehicles in less than an hour.
Mind sharing what is this calculation of 200*8?? I failed to understand that. Did you went to petrol bunk 8 times, emptied the tank at home and refilled? Please enlighten about this calculation.

And about point 2, I've the same question, if someone doesn't have anything else to do then does that mean that he/she should go and create traffic jams all over the city by causing immense inconvenience to others?

Regards,
kaushik_s is offline  
Old 29th May 2012, 15:39   #112
Senior - BHPian
 
funkykar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Bengaluru
Posts: 2,635
Thanked: 6,595 Times
Re: Ridiculous! Waiting in a petrol pump queue on the eve of a price hike

^ How long does the savings stay? Why bother about it, you saved anyways. If this is applied to many other areas of life (not at the cost of own's happiness and family, I agree on that), you get to save a lot of money.

I do this on apparel's, groceries and many things. From the advent of many supermarket's, if you research a bit, you get to know that there are lots of discounts which means savings. A small way to beat the inflation.

I do have subscribed to many websites that send daily mailers on deals. It helps once in a while.

If one has lots of money to spare, THIS DOESNT APPLY.

Purely with respect to fuel, only the government can help in avoiding the inconveniences with respect to traffic and chaos. Dont think anything else can help.
funkykar is online now   (2) Thanks
Old 29th May 2012, 15:54   #113
Distinguished - BHPian
 
RavenAvi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Flying Around
Posts: 6,663
Thanked: 47,505 Times
Re: Ridiculous! Waiting in a petrol pump queue on the eve of a price hike

Quote:
Originally Posted by aplang1 View Post
Thank god someone is looking at the other side of the story as well...
Horrible ordeal. I am so glad your family (especially your Dad) made it out safe and sound at the end of it all. Even the employees have to be commended for sticking with it all till the end and seeing it out.

In my case (posted a few pages back about me dashing to the pump to fill up), I think the news hadn't spread in my city by that time. A friend mentioned it on facebook and I suddenly realised I had about 4-5 ltrs of petrol left in Pegasus so I had to tank up (pump is only 5 minutes away). It also helped that we stay on the outskirts of my city, and this nearest pump is almost outside the city so sees less traffic (except for most of the village commuters on motorcycles).

Also, the crowd lined up at the pump (mostly 2-wheelers) were very well-behaved and moved in an orderly line, which helped in avoiding any sort of congestion/jam. In fact, a lot of space was left for the cars which were around 4-5 in number (I shut off at the entrance and then drove up to the filling point when they were gone, since no other car came up behind me till then). 2 attendants were doing the filling from either side of the pump and so filling up was being done pretty quickly as well. And there was enough petrol for everyone.

One of the benefits of living in a comparably smaller city, specially on the outskirts. BUT, if anything untoward would have started, I would have simply driven back home without filling up. Pegasus is too precious to me and is much more worthy than the ~200 bucks I might have saved. But now on hindsight, I am glad I did, because of the petrol shortage problem since yesterday. PLUS, a lower middle-class person like me needs to eke out any bit of savings as I can - the 200-odd rupees I saved that day equates to a whole week of vegetable supplies for my family.

Last edited by RavenAvi : 29th May 2012 at 15:57.
RavenAvi is offline  
Old 29th May 2012, 15:59   #114
Senior - BHPian
 
kaushik_s's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 1,088
Thanked: 164 Times
Re: Ridiculous! Waiting in a petrol pump queue on the eve of a price hike

@funkykar, ^^ As I said earlier, I've nothing against saving. Infact I do believe that saving money is a very good habit and we all should try to save. Saving money in the ways mentioned by you are very much acceptable and many do it. Even I do the same for many things that I need to buy although I must admit that I'm not much bothered about savings in the range of 100s, may be something psychological. But as you've also agreed, such savings shouldn't come at the cost of public inconvenience and that's what I don't like when I see huge queues (mostly chaotic) which in turn cause traffic jams and inconvenience to others.
Anyway, nice discussing with you as its good to see the viewpoint from the other side too.
Regards,
kaushik_s is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 29th May 2012, 16:02   #115
Senior - BHPian
 
sarathlal's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Trivandrum
Posts: 1,572
Thanked: 4,783 Times
Re: Ridiculous! Waiting in a petrol pump queue on the eve of a price hike

By announcing the hike at 4 pm and making it in effect by 12 pm, the Govt is not doing any favor to the common people by letting them know 'early' of the 'impending danger!'

Instead, they can simply pass on the news to pumps, news channels and papers and whomever it may concern for implementing and letting the public know, at around 11pm-12pm.

This will help the public like us to eat the bullet dead straight rather than going through all the mental and physical torture and delaying the bullet eating exercise by say another 1 week maximum.
sarathlal is online now   (1) Thanks
Old 29th May 2012, 16:05   #116
Senior - BHPian
 
funkykar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Bengaluru
Posts: 2,635
Thanked: 6,595 Times
Re: Ridiculous! Waiting in a petrol pump queue on the eve of a price hike

I agree Kaushik!

It was a healthy debate. This scenario can be better handled if the government is more bothered about the way they announce such news. Either they dont know, or they arent bothered.

When it comes to traffic, when you are having an emergency the regular traffic is just enough to screw up things. Hardly 50% follow rules in my opinion. Atleast the petrol hikes happen once in few months and not a daily affair.
funkykar is online now   (1) Thanks
Old 29th May 2012, 16:11   #117
Senior - BHPian
 
msdivy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 1,815
Thanked: 2,825 Times
Re: Ridiculous! Waiting in a petrol pump queue on the eve of a price hike

Quote:
Originally Posted by sarathlal View Post
Instead, they can simply pass on the news to pumps, news channels and papers and whomever it may concern for implementing and letting the public know, at around 11pm-12pm.
By 11PM most would have slept, most bunks would have closed. Since bunks open at 6AM, not sure if they would have received the order and implemented the new price. Even if they do, imagine the shock when somebody wants to fill up at 6AM and is informed that price has gone up by Rs 7.5 !

Probably the Govt can give more than 24 hours notice of the hike. This will give ample time for those who want to fill up.
msdivy is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 29th May 2012, 16:31   #118
Senior - BHPian
 
funkykar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Bengaluru
Posts: 2,635
Thanked: 6,595 Times
Re: Ridiculous! Waiting in a petrol pump queue on the eve of a price hike

Quote:
Originally Posted by msdivy View Post
By 11PM most would have slept, most bunks would have closed. Since bunks open at 6AM, not sure if they would have received the order and implemented the new price. Even if they do, imagine the shock when somebody wants to fill up at 6AM and is informed that price has gone up by Rs 7.5 !

Probably the Govt can give more than 24 hours notice of the hike. This will give ample time for those who want to fill up.
I agree with the first part, not the latter part. Announcing at 11PM makes sense.

If they announce 24 hours before, the same chaos would continue. Good chances are for atleast 12 hours most bunks would either be dry or closed (atleast the bunks with the older pumps) to make more money by selling the next day. This will cause a huge inconvenience to other motorists.
funkykar is online now  
Old 29th May 2012, 16:35   #119
BHPian
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: HYD
Posts: 67
Thanked: 69 Times
Re: Ridiculous! Waiting in a petrol pump queue on the eve of a price hike

Quote:
Originally Posted by aplang1 View Post
Thank god someone is looking at the other side of the story as well.
Thank you for sharing your experience, I am of course very sorry to hear all that your family and employees had to go through. (I have never personally filled fuel due to a hike, and think its a pretty needless thing to do)
I am horrified that your family had to face a mob.

One factor that I think might be in the minds of many people is that the general perception of petrol pump owners and operators isn't very good, to put it mildly. Apart from the obvious problems with quality and service issues (which may be due to myriad reasons right from low paid staff to mafia presence), there is a notion that most petrol pumps are owned/operated by politically connected/influential people. Of course there are exceptions like those run by ex-servicemen, or run by honest and upright folks like your family, but it seems the vast majority of petrol pump allotments are usually done in a not very transparent way. Maybe I am mistaken, and I would love to be proven wrong on this.

After watching films like Dhoop and others, the average man on the street isn't likely to be very sympathetic to the very real problems that petrol pump owners and employees face. Many people think that pump dealers are all just a politically connected mafia minting money by selling an essential commodity with dubious quality standards. The periodic stories that appear in the press about this issue, be it the burning of an officer in Maharashtra, or the murder of S.Manjunath in UP, only serve to reinforce this belief.

This in NO WAY justifies mob violence in petrol pumps, but I am only trying to point some of the reasons why a mob might get easily incited to violence.

Again, I sincerely hope your family is well and that they don't have to face such a situation again. Sadly this seems like a no-win situation. If one keeps the pump closed out a genuine concern for one's employees/family, then he will be branded a thief. If OTOH they keep it open, then they run the risk of mob violence. Its a terrible shame really, and a sad indicator of where we are heading as a society. When trust breaks down, then chaos is not far.
grazd is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 29th May 2012, 16:36   #120
Senior - BHPian
 
carwatcher's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Bardez, Goa
Posts: 1,184
Thanked: 1,031 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by msdivy View Post
By 11PM most would have slept, most bunks would have closed. Since bunks open at 6AM, not sure if they would have received the order and implemented the new price. Even if they do, imagine the shock when somebody wants to fill up at 6AM and is informed that price has gone up by Rs 7.5 !

Probably the Govt can give more than 24 hours notice of the hike. This will give ample time for those who want to fill up.
What is wrong in getting news of the hike at 6 AM? Will it be so shocking that the person may die of heart attack! Infact, earlier we were used to get petrol hike news in the morning itself and meters at the pumps were adjusted in the night itself.
If you read few posts back there is a post about traumatic experience which went on for 8-9 hrs, why extend this to 24 hrs. Thinking that queue will be over in 24hrs is not realistic.
Though the blame lies with Govt but Media is 50%(if not more) responsible for the same. Even if Govt wishes to disclose the news at 10-11 in the night, the omnipresent 'sources' of the media would leak it well in advance and then there is a mad race of breaking news.
carwatcher is offline  
Reply

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks