LUCKNOW, March 29 -- The panic that had gripped fuel stations in Lucknow over the past two days almost faded on Saturday, with the situation returning to normal by the afternoon. Although there was some rush at a few petrol pumps in the morning, the long queues and huge crowds seen earlier were missing as the day went on. By afternoon, most petrol pumps had very few vehicles, and there was no waiting. There were also no reports of fuel shortage anywhere in the city. A ground check by HT on the third day showed that people were no longer panic buying fuel. In the afternoon, most petrol pumps were nearly empty, with only a few vehicles coming in for regular refuelling. The crowd seen earlier was no longer present. Rajeev Shrivastava, a resident of Jankipuram who came to a petrol pump in Vikas Nagar, said he waited for the rush to end. "I knew that the panic created due to rumours would go away. So, I planned to refill my tank only after things became normal, and that is why I turned up now," he said. Petrol pump operators also said the situation improved during the day. Jagbahadur Singh, manager of an Indian Oil petrol pump near Munshipuliya, said there was some rush in the morning, but it was much less compared to the previous two days. "By afternoon, the crowd almost disappeared and everything became smooth," he said. He added that fuel sales had increased a lot during the last two days. "Earlier, we used to sell around 19,000 to 20,000 litres of petrol daily. But during the panic, sales went up to nearly 30,000 to 32,000 litres per day," Singh said. A similar situation was seen at an HP petrol pump in Vikas Nagar. Ramesh Tiwari, a worker at the pump, said there were long queues in the morning, but things improved later. "By afternoon, the rush was completely gone. People are not panic refuelling anymore," he said. When asked about the reason behind the panic earlier, Tiwari said it was mainly due to rumours on social media. "Wrong information about fuel shortage created fear among people," he said. Vikas Tiwari, manager of the same HP petrol pump, said, "Supply is normal. There is no shortage of petrol or diesel at our station." The same situation was seen in areas like Jankipuram, Khurram Nagar and Madiaon, where petrol pumps were operating normally without any rush by afternoon. During checks, HT didn't see anyone collecting petrol or diesel in containers. Petrol pump managers said they are not giving fuel to anyone in any container....