Debt-ridden Sri Lanka runs out of diesel as people reel under hours-long blackout

After paper, Sri Lanka has now run out of diesel, potentially crippling the transport sector in the debt-ridden country.

This comes as a day after the government extended the nationwide daily power cuts from seven hours to 10 due to the non-availability of fuel to generate hydro-electricity. However, several people have been reporting that they are without electricity for more than 13 hours.

According to officials, many stations across the island have stopped selling diesel —the main fuel for buses and commercial vehicles —as they were out of stock.

Petrol was on sale but in short supply, forcing motorists to abandon their cars in long queues, reports AFP.

Transport Minister Dilum Amunugama said that diesel is being siphoned off from buses that are in the garage for repairs and using that diesel to operate serviceable vehicles.

Owners of private buses —which account for two-thirds of the country's fleet —said they were already out of oil and that even skeleton services may not be possible after Friday.

"We are still using old stocks of diesel, but if we don't get supplies by this evening, we will not be able to operate," chairman of the private bus operators association Gemunu Wijeratne told AFP.

Sri Lanka is in the midst of an unprecedented acute economic and energy crisis accentuated due to shortage of foreign exchange reserves.

All essential items and fuel have been in shirt supply, forcing tens of thousands of people to queue for hours outside petrol filling stations and grocery stores.

The Colombo Stock Exchange has been trading for two hours owing to lengthy power cuts, while many non-essential staff have been told to stay at home.

The electricity rationing also hit mobile phone base stations and affected the quality of calls, operators said, adding that their stand-by generators were also without diesel, reports Reuters.

Several state-run hospitals have reportedly stopped surgeries as they have run out of essential life-saving medicines, while most have stopped diagnostic tests which require imported chemicals that are in short supply.

In March 2020, the Sri Lankan government had imposed a broad import ban in a bid to stave off foreign currency crisis so that it can pay out its foreign debt amounting to $51 billion.

The government has said it is seeking a bailout from the International Monetary Fund while asking for more loans from India and China.

Watch |Sri Lanka faces 13-hour blackout; hospitals halt surgery, runs out of life-saving medicines

(With inputs from agencies)