Long queues start to ease at fuel stations

The introduction of fuel sales through the “Fuel Pass” app has brought a degree of order back to filling stations in the capital, reducing public suffering.

While customers are still required to queue for fuel, the length of those queues has significantly reduced compared to previous days.

The situation was observed at several filling stations in Dhaka on Tuesday.

At Meghna Petrol Pump in Paribagh, vehicles were seen waiting in line, but the queues were much shorter than in recent days.

Anisur Rahman, a driver of a private vehicle from a Gulsan-based organisation, said he last refuelled about 10 days ago, when he had to wait nearly 10 hours at a Tejgaon filling station.

“I had never waited that long for fuel in my life. Today the crowd is much smaller. I have been here for about half an hour, and since the queue is short, I think I will get fuel soon,” he said.

His observation was reflected at the station, where only a short queue of vehicles was seen waiting for fuel. Similar scenes were observed at other stations in Motijheel, Rahman Pump and Purnima Pump, where no long lines were visible.

Last week, queues at some stations stretched up to the entrance of the Kuril U-turn, as vehicles lined up for fuel almost daily.

Zahidur Rahman, who came to refuel from the Khilkhet area, said he had to wait about three hours five days ago. This time, he reached the pump after standing in line for just half an hour.

“Compared to before, the hardship has reduced somewhat. Now the situation can be called normal. If it continues like this, our suffering will decrease further,” he said.

Businessman Asif Mahmud, who also came for fuel from the Kawla area, echoed similar views.

“Now it is more or less normal. I last took fuel about 15 days ago, when there were very long queues,” he said.