Mannar residents struggle to get petrol

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 January 2006, 03:06 GMT]
Petrol station run by Manthai West Multi Purpose Co-operative Society is surrounded by camps and sentry points of the State armed forces and residents of Mannar town fear going to the station. This petrol station located at the entrance to the town serves a population of about forty thousand and about two thousand vehicles with fuel for domestic, agricultural and fishing and transport purposes, civil sources said.

The petrol station started functioning since the year 1964 had earlier sold monthly 215 thousand litres of diesel, 190 thousand liters of kerosene and 13,320 litres of petrol.

Residents are forced to use two other petrol stations, one run by the Manthai South MPCS at Uyilankulam, about 13.5 km off Mannar town on Mannar-Madawachchiya road and the other run by Mannar MPCS at Siruthoppu on Mannar-Talaimannar Road about 13 km off Mannar town, civil sources said.