Hindustan Times (Lucknow)

No letup in CNG crisis, long queues continue

ACTION District administra­tion asks oil companies to improve supply of green fuel at the earliest

- HT Correspond­ent n lkoreporte­rsdesk@hindustant­imes.com

LUCKNOW: With no let-up in the CNG crisis, the district administra­tion on Friday directed oil companies to improve CNG supply in the city at the earliest.

Many van drivers were not able to pick up school children for the second consecutiv­e day as they didn’t get CNG despite standing in long queues.

The school drivers said they felt like beggars when they went to fetch the gas. “The staff of the pump misbehaves with us, they know that it’s our compulsion to get the gas, so we will have to bear it for our work.”

There had been reports of a clash between CNG pump employees and drivers waiting in queue at a fuel station in Vrindavan colony. To prevent occurrence of such incidents, the district administra­tion has told oil companies and GGL to increase the number of CNG dispensers to reduce waiting time for gas.

Green Gas Limited officials said the solution lies in the hands of Indian Oil Corporatio­n management as they have to decide the number of CNG dispensers in the city.

“For two days, we had to tell parents that we cannot pick and drop their kids because of CNG problem,” said Abdul Karim, a van driver in Gomti Nagar.

However, people blamed GGL and Indian Oil for the crisis. “How can the officials sit quietly when people are suffering.

Why don’t they increase the number of dispensers immediatel­y. Why the delay? Are they waiting for riots to take place,” asked Naved who was waiting for two hours at a station with his cab.

“The writing was on the wall when the RTO started giving permission for converting vehicles into CNG. Then why didn’t they bother to increase dispensers,” he asked.

The sale of CNG vehicles went up by 20% each year, but Green Gas Limited never cared to meet the demand in such a way that vehicles don’t have to form queues for getting gas, he added.

GREEN GAS LIMITED OFFICIALS SAID THE SOLUTION LIES IN THE HANDS OF INDIAN OIL CORPORATIO­N MANAGEMENT AS THEY HAVE TO DECIDE THE NUMBER OF CNG DISPENSERS IN THE CITY.

 ?? DEEPAK GUPTA & SUBHANKAR CHAKRABORT­Y/HT PHOTOS ?? School van drivers had a long wait at a CNG station in Gomti Nagar’s Vibhuti Khand on Friday.
DEEPAK GUPTA & SUBHANKAR CHAKRABORT­Y/HT PHOTOS School van drivers had a long wait at a CNG station in Gomti Nagar’s Vibhuti Khand on Friday.

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