Fuel does not climb the Karakoram on goodwill. Chief Minister Amjad Hussain chaired a high-level meeting on problems raised by the Oil Tankers Association, aiming to settle legitimate demands before supply gaps hit Gilgit-Baltistan, the Daily Independent reported.
Axle weight, OGRA, and a two-year window
The chief minister said the federal government, in line with Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) directives, has conditionally allowed oil tankers that have not fully complied with axle-weight regulations to operate on highways for two years. In that period, those tankers must implement the axle-weight system as OGRA requires. Tankers that already comply have been granted full permission to run on expressways and motorways, according to the account.
That split matters for GB: the same fleet that fills pumps in Gilgit and Skardu has to clear motorway and highway enforcement on the long haul from down-country depots.
Keep the tankers moving
Amjad Hussain directed the National Highway Authority (NHA) to ensure uninterrupted movement of oil tankers supplying petroleum products to Gilgit-Baltistan, citing federal directives and the risk of shortage. He also ordered a follow-up meeting the next day with NHA, Motorway Police, the provincial Secretary for Excise and Taxation, and association representatives to clear remaining technical and administrative issues.
Strike off the table — for now
A representative delegation of the Oil Tankers Association thanked the provincial government for taking demands seriously and assured that their ongoing strike would be called off, the report said.
In the room: Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Secretary Arshad Majeed, the provincial Secretaries for Home and Excise and Taxation, and association representatives. Senior officials from OGRA, NHA, and Pakistan State Oil (PSO) joined some of the discussion by video link.
The GB stake
When tankers stop, the north feels it first — generators, hospital runs, jeep tourism, winter heating. A meeting that pairs axle-weight compliance with an NHA keep-moving order is the kind of desk story that rarely trends and still decides whether a valley’s pumps stay wet.