Petrol shortage persists in Dir.

LOWER DIR -- Petrol shortage persisted in almost all areas of Lower Dir on the 14th consecutive day here on Sunday, forcing motorists to stand in long queues outside filling stations.

An official of the district administration told this scribe that only 14 of 145 filling stations in the district were being supplied petrol and diesel, which was insufficient.

He said that deputy commissioner Saadat Hassan had directed all assistant commissioners and additional assistant commissioners to visit the filling stations for checking petrol stock, but the commodity was in short supply from the main depots.

Badshah Mohammad, a taxi driver, said he visited six filling stations from Talash to Gulabad Adenzai to get petrol, but returned empty handed. He said vehicles stood in long queues outside filling stations at Kharkanai while rest of them had blocked their entry points.

Some of the consumers alleged that the station owners had been selling the commodity at higher rates, mostly during nighttime.

A PSO pump owner at Talash told this correspondent that they got less amount of petrol...