(MENAFN- IANS)
Patna, Dec 19 (IANS) With the majority of the Bihar police busy in enforcing the liquor ban, the fuel mafias are using this situation to their advantage to smuggle fuel from the border areas, especially from the border districts adjoining Uttar Pradesh.
At present, the difference in petrol and diesel prices in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh is big and it is turning out to be a great source of income for people living in West Champaran, Gopalganj, Siwan, Saran Bhojpur, Buxar, Kaimur and Rohtas districts.
Such a situation emerged in the border areas after the central government reduced Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel ahead of assembly elections in five states including Uttar Pradesh. It has also asked all the states to reduce VAT.
Following the instructions of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, the BJP ruled states reduced VAT more than the states ruled by other parties. In Bihar, the NDA is in power in alliance with the JDU to which Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also belongs. But he has not reduced VAT as much as BJP ruled states like Uttar Pradesh did.
At present, the price difference in petrol is Rs 13 per litre. In Bihar, the price of petrol is Rs 108.71 per litre while in Uttar Pradesh the price of petrol is just Rs 95.71 per litre. Similarly, the price of diesel in Bihar is Rs 93.72 per litre while it is available at Rs 87.24 in Uttar Pradesh.
As a result, people living in West Champaran are crossing Kushinagar border, purchasing the fuel in gallons and returning to their native places during the night. Similarly, people living on the borders of Uttar Pradesh in Gopalganj district go to Kushinagar and Deoria, residents of Siwan and Saran go to Balia, residents of Buxar are frequently crossing the Bharauli border to enter Ghazipur district, Kaimur's residents go to Chandauli and Sonbhadra districts while Rohtas's residents generally go to Sonbhadra district to buy fuel at cheaper rates.
'Smuggling of petrol and diesel is less dangerous than smuggling of liquor from Uttar Pradesh to Bihar. I used to go to Kushinagar in the evening and wait in the queue at fuel pumps for my turn. I used to completely fill the petrol tank of my WagonR car and also fill two cans of 30 litres each in the dickey and easily return to my native place in West Champaran. It is a fruitful business for us as we used to sell it for Rs 5 to Rs 6 less compared to the price of petrol at the petrol pumps in West Champaran,' said Radhe Verma, a resident of West Champaran who did not mention the name of his village.
'After the Bihar police's continuous raids to search of liquor in the state, we have left the manufacturing of liquor for some time. Now, we have jumped into the smuggling of petrol. It has a good margin of Rs 7 to Rs 8 per litre. The chances of a raid are minimal in this case. Moreover, we take non-motorable routes to smuggle petrol in the night using bicycles. The district police cannot dare to challenge us,' said Lal Kishore Prasad, a resident of Gopalganj who also goes to Kushinagar.
The administrations of the respective districts of Uttar Pradesh know that the long queues at the fuel pumps in Bihar were due to the illegal traders of petrol and diesel but they hardly stop them from buying such large quantities. One of the reasons is assembly elections. The Uttar Pradesh authorities know that these people have relatives in both the states and disturbing them could hurt the ruling party in the state.
A fuel station manager at Hanumanganj in Kushinagar district said that the sale at his station has increased by 70%. 'We are operating it round the clock to take maximum benefits from it,' he said requesting anonymity.
Santosh Kumar Yadav, the SHO of Hanumanganj police station in Kushinagar said: 'We have received information about long queues outside fuel stations. The information has been passed to other police stations of other districts adjoining the borders of Bihar. We will initiate a campaign against it.'
The Bihar government is facing huge criticism over the poor implementation of the liquor ban. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, in a bid to stop wrongdoings in the state, has given the charge to KK Pathak, additional chief secretary, to curb the smuggling of liquor in the state especially from the border areas.
Recently, he visited Dalkola check post in Purnea district and directed the officials to ascertain the geographical location of every road connected to the borders and prepare plans to stop the smuggling of liquor. It is believed that once liquor smuggling is stopped, it will put the breaks on other such activities.
--IANS
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