Vikram Raj/ Kounsar Bashir
Petroleum and Diesel rates rose by 35 paise and 18 paise per liter on Monday, as indicated by a value notice from state-possessed fuel retailers. As diesel cost climbed for the 33rd time in the last two months alone, on Sunday, the price of the fuel reached Rs 100 for each liter, Jammu Kashmir was no exception.
Various states where the petroleum cost is higher than Rs 100 for each liter are – Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Bihar, Panjab and Ladakh.
The marked increase in global crude oil prices, as a result of the major economies like the United States, Europe and China getting back into the track after suffering a major blow due to the pandemic, has impacted this increase in petrol and diesel prices.
The VAT and cargo charges, imposed by the central and the state governments are one of the biggest reasons behind the rapidly increasing costs of fuel. Unless the governments decide to decrease the taxes, the prices will likely remain high.
Oil corporations update the price of petroleum and diesel day by day depending on the normal cost of benchmark fuel in the worldwide market in the previous 15 days.
The fuel prices in the Kashmir Valley are at an all-time high currently, with ₹102.44 in the summer capital Srinagar, on Sunday. The price in Shopian was reported to be ₹102.22, while Baramullah of North Kashmir reported the highest in the valley with ₹102.98.
District Wise Rate List -Monday
Here’s a list of fuel prices in all the districts of the erstwhile state of Jammu Kashmir, as reported on Monday.
Anantnag – 101.43
Badgam – 102.48
Bandipora – 102.86
Baramullah – 102.97
Doda – 100.36
Ganderbal – 102.57
Jammu – 98.96
Kargil – 85.26
Kathua – 99.69
Kishtwar – 101.61
Kulgam – 101.88
Kupwara – 102.99
Leh – 87.32
Poonch – 101.33
Pulwama – 102.06
Rajouri – 100.61
Ramban – 100.55
Reasi – 99.53
Samba – 98.87
Shopian – 102.22
Srinagar -102.44
Udhampur – 99.54
Locals Miffed
The erstwhile state has undergone a series of lockdowns, including a complete shutdown after the abrogation of its special status. Internet had not yet been restored fully yet that the Covid-19 pandemic set its foot in the region. The back-to-back lockdowns have impacted the erstwhile state, massively. The Kashmiriyat talked to a few locals about the increasing fuel prices in the valley. Here’s what the locals have to say:
Abdul Sidiq, a Carpenter, who struggled hard to get a Scooty on EMI fears that he will have to stop driving the motor vehicle given the hike in fuel prices and that he might have to move to a bicycle like the old days.
Talking to The Kashmiriyat he said, “I bought a Scooty on in order to commute between home and work on time, but the fuel prices are touching the sky. If this continues, I’m afraid I won’t be able to drive the Scooty further, because I won’t be able to save money for the pending EMI. I think old days are coming back when we used to go to work on bicycles.”
Bilal Ahmad, a shopkeeper, whose life has been under turmoil due to the continuous lockdowns talked to The Kashmiriyat.
“I urge the government to look into the matter of fuel prices because, in Kashmir, it’s been three years of lockdowns and shutdown. We do not have many resources to afford an abrupt spike on fuel price,” Ahmad said.
Shabir Ahmad, General Secretary of the Transport Association South Kashmir, is distressed because the transporters don’t earn as much as they spend on fuel.
“We are going through a lot of financial problems. We don’t even earn as much as we have to spend on fuel, documents, spare parts, etc,” he told The Kashmiriyat.
“The fuel prices are touching the sky every other day. Only we can understand how much of a trouble it is that we are going through,” added Shabir Ahmad.
Further, he said that from the floods in 2014 to the Covid-19 lockdown of 2020, the government has sucked the blood of transporters by increasing prices to overcome the expenditure that they paid during times of crisis.
“We request the government to decrease the fuel rates, so the bus fare becomes affordable to the public as well. Not everyone can afford their own private vehicle,” Shabir Ahmad said while talking to The Kashmiriyat.
Shabir, talking of how the government raises the bus fare as well said, “Our children who study in various colleges and universities, who commute through buses cannot afford a higher bus fare. If they (Govt.) decreases the fuel rate, they should not have hiked the bus fare, it’s a burden for the public.”