Sri Lankan woman rickshaw driver has to queue 12 hours, or more, for fuel

Lasanda Deepthi, 43, an auto-rickshaw driver for local ride hailing app PickMe, sits inside her auto-rickshaw as she waits in a queue to buy petrol during the early hours of the morning at a fuel station in Gonapola town, on the outskirts of Colombo, Sri Lanka, May 26, 2022. "I spend more time in line for petrol than doing anything else," Deepthi said. "Sometimes I join a line about 3 p.m. but only get fuel about 12 hours later. "A couple of times I made it to the front of the queue only to have the fuel run out." REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

Lasanda Deepthi, a 43-year-old Sri Lankan woman, plans her day around fuel queues.

    The driver of an auto-rickshaw on the outskirts of the commercial capital Colombo, she keeps a close eye on the petrol gauge of her sky-blue three-wheeler before accepting a job to make sure she has enough fuel.