Chimi Dema | Tsirang

Claiming that the lone fuel depot in the town remains short of fuel frequently, taxi drivers in Damphu, Tsirang said they need an additional depot.

The only fuel depot in the dzongkhag remained without both petrol and diesel for almost 24 hours since the evening of March 2 affecting the business of many taxi drivers in the town.

A local taxi driver, Sangay said that even the local tours were affected.

It was learnt that before the fuel station ran out of fuel, each vehicle was sold only five litres (L).

A few of them managed with the extra fuel they kept in store.

“As such shortages occur quite often, we used to reserve a few litres when it is available,” another driver said.

But as a long-term solution, he said, it is important to have another fuel depot to ease such a shortage in the future.

Besides taxi drivers, the recent shortage has also affected commuters.

Pema Tamang, 35, who was supposed to travel to Wangdue on March 2, had to wait until yesterday evening.

The official in charge of the fuel depot said that such a problem was rare and that the recent shortage was due to delay in quota approval from India which affected the movement of tankers to the country.

He also said that about 2,000L of fuel was reserved for emergency purposes.

The fuel supply was expected to resume yesterday evening.

The fuel depot in the town caters to about 100 vehicles a day.