India Truckers Strike Threatens Food, Fuel, Goods Supplies

Truckers across India joined a nationwide strike against a new law imposing harsher punishment for hit-and-run offenses, leading to delays in the supply of goods and sparking fuel shortage fears.

Long queues outside petrol pumps in the states of Punjab and Madhya Pradesh were shown on TV news channels Tuesday, as people rushed to fill their tanks expecting fuel to run out. Pumps in the territory of Chandigarh restricted supplies as a precautionary measure, according to a statement by the local administration. Executives at India’s state-owned fuel retailers, who didn’t wish to be named as they aren’t authorized to speak to the media, told Bloomberg that the shortages were due to panic buying rather than supply chain disruptions.