All petrol and diesel retail outlets across Maharashtra on Wednesday threatened to shut down their establishments from August 1, if the Maharashtra Government did not withdraw its recent ‘no helmet-no fuel’ rule for two-wheelers in the State.
Announcing his organisation’s plan to enforce a shutdown of petrol and diesel retail outlets in the State, Federation of All Maharashtra Petrol Dealers Association (FAMPEDA) president Uday lodh said, “As part of our proposed agitation, we will not pick up or stocking petrol/diesel at the 4,500 pumps in the State, including 500 in Mumbai, from August 1, when the new rule comes into effect. We will write letters to all the oil marketing companies of their proposed move to stop buying-stocking of the fuel”.
The decision to shut down petrol and diesel retail outlets was taken at a meeting of all the 25 member-associations from the 35 districts in the state convened on Wednesday to discuss the situation arising out of the State Government’s new directive.
“We also intend to move the Bombay High Court seeking the annulment of the`no helmet-no fuel’ rule for two-wheelers in the State,” lodh said.
“The Government directive is flawed in nature because it expects the petrol-diesel retailers to perform the duties of the law-enforcing authorities…We are not the police, so it is not our job to implement the laws of the land. If we refuse to provide petrol-diesel to anybody, we can be beaten up, especially at nights when drunken or lumpen elements come to refill,” lodh said.
It may be recalled that on July 21, Maharashtra Transport Minister Diwakar Raote had made the announcement of the new rule in the legislature to promote road safety and save lives lost in accidents.
“Supplying fuel to riders not wearing helmets is seen as encouraging riding two-wheelers without helmets,” Raote had said.
As many as 146,133 people were killed in 501,423 road accidents in the country, of which those involving two-wheelers accounted for 144,391 accidents — or nearly 28 percent — with 36,803 deaths.
According to statistics provided in "Road Accidents in India, 2015" released in June by Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Mumbai topped the national accidents chart Among 50 cities in the million-plus population category, with 23,468 accidents last year. Maharashtra ranked second (after Tamil Nadu) in the country with 63,805 road accidents in 2015.
On their part, the Mumbai Police had earlier this month — in an effort to check the increasing number of road mishaps — announced its plant to implement the ‘no helmet-no fuel’ directive strictly from August 1.