Hyderabad: Somewhere between Langar Houz and Asif Nagar, a man on a motorcycle was doing the arithmetic of desperation – how much fuel was left in the tank, how far the hospital was and whether the queue at the next pump would be shorter than the last.
He had already checked the stations near his home. Boards up saying “no stock,” reminiscent of the situation seen a month back.
“I have to go to the hospital. How will I manage?” he told Siasat.com.
He is not alone. Since Saturday night, “no stock” boards have reappeared outside petrol pumps across Hyderabad – in Alwal, Trimulgherry, Rajendranagar, Nampally, Asifnagar, Jirra, Mehdipatnam and stretches of the Old City. Where fuel is available, queues are very long and exhausting. Where it isn’t, the shutters are down.
It is a scene that Hyderabad has seen before, barely a month ago in late March, similar disruptions paralysed parts of the city. That episode passed. This one arrived quietly on a Saturday night, and by Monday, it had spread into a familiar, grinding chaos.
For those who depend on two-wheelers for their livelihoods – delivery workers and daily wage earners – the disruption is not an inconvenience. It is a crisis.
One man had ridden from Mangalhaat, across the city, and was standing with his bike in the open sun, in what has been a punishing April heatwave, waiting for the pump to have enough fuel to serve him.
“I have been standing here with my bike in this heat. It is important for me to have fuel. My entire work and pay is based on travelling,” he told Siasat.com. He did not sound angry so much as exhausted.
Another commuter, searching for a station that was open, said simply, “Aage chalka kaisa hoga, nai malum(I don’t know what will happen in the future). I’m surprised the problem has come again. I have to keep searching. Might be a supply problem.”
Not everyone can afford to wait. At least one commuter told Saisat.com that he had turned to the informal market, buying half a litre of petrol for Rs 100, nearly twice the pump rate.
Retailers at several pumps told customers there was simply no supply. No stock, no clarity on when the next delivery would arrive.
The immediate backdrop is the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran, which has resulted in the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical chokepoints for crude oil and petroleum product shipments. India imports a significant portion of its oil through this passage, and the disruption has sent ripples through supply chains and public anxiety alike.
Whether the current shortage in Hyderabad is directly caused by the Hormuz closure, or by panic buying triggered by fears of it, or by some combination of logistics and perception, is not entirely clear.
What is clear is that the queues are real, the boards are up and the government’s reassurances are not reaching the man standing in the heat outside a shuttered pump in Mangalhaat.
On Sunday, April 26, the Telangana State Civil Supplies Corporation issued a statement reiterating that there is no shortage of LPG, petrol or diesel in the state. It released supply figures and urged the public not to be misled by rumours.
Oil Marketing Companies operating in Telangana issued a parallel statement, saying supplies remain adequate. The state-level coordinator of the OMCs said public sector oil companies are closely monitoring the situation and ensuring smooth logistics. “There is no shortage anywhere, and necessary steps are being taken to streamline supply and expedite deliveries,” the coordinator said.
It is the kind of statement that would be reassuring, if it matched what people were seeing.
“The government can say whatever it wants,” said one commuter told Siasat.com, waiting in a queue at one of the few open stations. “The reality on the ground is different. All the government cares about is how to take money from the citizens.”
He was not the only one who had stopped waiting for official explanations to make sense of what he was experiencing. “We thought the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) would work for us,” said another, implying that it was not the case.
It is still unclear when supply will normalise. Retailers say they have no information. The corporations say everything is fine. And in the gap between those two positions, people are circling the city on empty tanks, making calculations and hoping the next pump has not already put up its board.
This post was last modified on April 27, 2026 2:56 pm