Chaos had prevailed at various city petrol pumps on Tuesday following the Re 1 hike in petrol prices announced by Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha during his budget speech. Citizens were taken aback to find that instead of the Re 1 hike, the price of petrol had been increased by Rs 4 per litre.

This led to a lot of arguments between the dealers and vehicle owners following which some petrol pumps closed shutters for some hours to avoid any kind of arguments.

When contacted, Chotubhai Madhani, president of the Pune Petrol Dealers Association stated that oil companies had directed their dealers to sell petrol at the new rates with effect from today. The price of petrol at Rs 27.67 per litre includes the Re 1 surcharge, 21 per cent sales tax, 4 per cent octroi and other incidental charges, he said.Low turnout for Mulshi by-poll
A meagre 34 per cent of voters turned up to exercise their franchise in the by-elections to the Mulshi Assembly constituency on Wednesday. The voting was largely peaceful, according to officials at the election office.The voting was marked with lack of enthusiasm among voters while desperate party workers were seen cajoling voters to come out to vote. The voters were seen standing in queues in some parts of the constituency in the first three hours. However, several polling stations virtually wore a deserted look in the afternoon due to the heat.

A marked lack of interest among voters was witnessed in the urban parts of the constituency with a number of polling stations on Sinhagad Road and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation recorded hardly 7 per cent voting during the first four hours.

The counting will take place on Friday at Paud while the final result is expected to be announced by late evening.