Pune: Filling up compressed natural gas (CNG) in tanks has become a major hassle for vehicle owners in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, with just 184 CNG stations in these limits against over 6.5 lakh vehicles either fully running on CNG or on both CNG and petrol.
Officials of Pune Regional Transport Office (RTO) said the situation has led to more people opting for hybrid vehicles running on CNG-petrol. However, for many autorickshaw drivers and cabbies, the problem is significant.
Auto driver Mohammad Ashfaq said, “It is a major trouble. Many CNG pumps just shut down service suddenly due to maintenance. I travel to the CNG-cum-petrol station along Shankarsheth Road, and most of the time there is a long queue of autos waiting. It takes me almost an hour to fuel up. Business gets affected badly.”
Shivajinagar resident Anand Patel, who owns a hybrid (CNG-petrol) car, said, “Getting fuel is severely inconvenient and takes hours at times. Many fuel stations don’t have CNG at all. Most of the time, I put fill up petrol, which costs more,” he said.
At present, there are around 6,63,000 vehicles in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad running fully on CNG or with the CNG-petrol option. Dhruv Ruparel, president of the Petrol Dealers Association Pune, pointed out that despite the demand, there are just 184 pumps with the CNG facility in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad combined.
“Of these, 124 are owned by MNGL and the rest are owned by Torrent Gas. We have requested the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) for help to resolve this issue,” Ruparel told TOI, adding that at least 120-150 more CNG stations are needed.
Shafiq Patel, president of the Azad Rickshaw Chalak Sanghatna, agreed. “Many of these CNG stations are located along important roads. Due to crowding and traffic jams, police don’t allow us to queue up to fill CNG sometimes. However, they also help us. A few days back, a CNG station in Shivajinagar was made operational 24×7. Ultimately, the problem persists, mainly affecting auto and cab drivers,” Patel said.
Cabbie Sudhir Pardeshi claimed that this is one of the reasons behind many cab drivers asking for extra fares. “Refuelling takes up a lot of our time. At times, the wait is up to two hours at most stations, which are located mainly on the outskirts, as CNG comes there via tanks and the booths are not connected to the gas main line as is the case in the city. Then, the police ask us to leave as heavy crowding leads to traffic problems. Some pumps suddenly close, leaving us stranded,” he narrated.
Sujit Ruikar, vice-president (marketing) of MNGL, admitted that problems exist. “Difficulties in terms of queuing for CNG are understandable. We have planned a sizeable increase in the number of CNG stations, and work is happening on multiple fronts. However, setting up the same is a time-consuming process. Also, we are in talks with the oil companies in this connection,” the senior official told TOI.
