No Diesel, 15-Hour-Long Power Cuts as Sri Lanka Reels Under Emergency

Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam

Reporter: Smitha TK

Since 1 April, a nationwide public emergency has been declared in Sri Lanka following violent protests outside the Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's home over the country's worst economic crisis in decades.

Diesel – the main fuel for buses and commercial vehicles has been unavailable at stations across the island for over a week, crippling livelihoods and public transport.

Power cuts lasting over 13 hours were imposed – the longest cut since 1996 when a strike by the state employees caused a 72-hour-long black out.

A consignment of 40,000 metric tonnes of diesel from India reached Sri Lanka on 2 April, the fourth such assistance from New Delhi, to mitigate the spike in power cuts.

Rajapaksa said the decision to impose the state emergency was made in the "interests of public security, the protection of public order and the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community." The island nation is struggling with an ongoing economic crisis that has impacted the supply of basic goods such a food, medicine and fuel.

Over the past two years, the coronavirus pandemic has dealt a serious blow to Sri Lanka's economy, as the tourism sector was the main revenue source for the country.

Currency reserves have slumped 70 percent in the past two years to $2.31 billion, Reuters reported. Sri Lanka has to repay about $4 billion in debt over the rest of this year, including a $1 billion international sovereign bond that matures in July.