India’s neighboring country Sri Lanka is facing the worst economic crisis. The country has not seen a situation like this in more than the past 70 years.
There is a widespread unrest in the country as it grapples with shortage of fuel shortage. As per latest reports, the government has ordered soldiers to be deployed at petrol stations. This has been done as people have been protesting the scarcity of fuel and some violent protests have also erupted in the past few days as the anger levels are rising among the masses.
Read also: Sri Lankan inflation hits record high since 2015
Sri Lanka is faced with shortage of resources such as essential goods, food and cooking gas. There are blackouts through the island nation as infrastructure is collapsing due to the economic meltdown.
Women have also taken to streets to protests against the shortage of kerosene required for cooking. As per reports, a tourist bus was stopped from plying on Monday as some angry women blocked the road.
Reports have been coming in about the impact of the fuel shortage as people are forced to wait in queues for hours. Three people died in the past week while waiting in line for fuel. The situation is getting worse and some people have started sleeping outside petrol stations to get diesel and gasoline for their needs.
The crisis has been caused by a shortage of foreign currency and this has also affected imports. The country is heavily dependent on the tourism sector for revenue generation. The pandemic has reduced the earnings of the tourism industry and the country is now seeking financial bail out from the IMF- International Monetary Fund.
Read also: Tourist vehicles to get priority access amid fuel shortage in SL
The situation is so bad in Sri Lanka that the school exams of millions of students were cancelled by the government due to shortage of paper and ink.
As people struggle to survive, reports of refugees leaving the country and landing at Tamil Nadu coast have started coming in. at least 16 nationals of Sri Lanka including women and children arrived in India on Tuesday. The daily wage earners and working-class people are the worst affected as unemployment levels are at an all-time high. The number of refugees fleeing the country may increase in the days to come, as prices of fuel and food items are rising sharply in Sri Lanka.
