Owners of motorcycles in the Rajshahi city are facing serious problem because of sub-standard petrol and octane, which is leading their vehicles to go out of order.
Many motorbike owners alleged that the pump owners were selling petrol and octane mixing with kerosene to make extra profit.
Abdul Hamid Tekon, ward 22 councilor of the Rajshahi City Corporation, bought petrol from a pump at Kumarpara near the Rajshahi city Awami League office a few days ago, he said.
After going a distance, his bike came to a halt and later his motorcycle was taken to a workshop.
The mechanic at the workshop told him that his bike went out of order because of the substandard fuel he used to run it.
When the councilor went back to the petrol pump and asked the workers why they were selling substandard fuel, they denied the allegation and treated him rudely.
When contacted, the owner of the pump told the councilor that they sold fuel supplied by petroleum company Megna Oil.
‘If the fuel carries any substandard elements, petroleum company Megna Oil should be held responsible for this,’ he said, adding that the sellers are not responsible in this regard.
Councilor Abdul Hamid Tekon told New Age that after the incident he had lodged a verbal complaint with the city mayor, AHM Khairuzaman Liton, deputy commissioner of Rajshahi Delowar Bakth and Megna Oil’s regional manager Shaheen Reza but no step was taken in his favour.
Not only councilor Abdul Hamid Tekon, some others motorcycle riders of the Rajshahi city Nazrul Islam Adnan, Zahid, Azhar Uddin, and Bablu also complained the same to the New Age correspondent.
Amelandu Proshad, manager of Gulgafur Petrol Pump at Kumarpara in the city, acknowledging the allegation of the motorcycle owners, told New Age that the companies were supplying substandard petrol and octane to the pump.
‘As we have no machine to test the quality of petrol and octane, we are selling the fuel to the customers,’ he added.
Zillur Rahman, depot in-charge of Megna Oil, told New Age that only the Gulgapur Petrol Pump authorities had lodged a complaint with them.
‘If there was any substandard element in the fuel, all the pumps would have lodged their complaints,’ he said.
