Commuters on Thursday faced severe hardships as the strike of CNG association continued across the country for the second consecutive day.
CNG filling stations in Lahore were to open on Thursday after the three-day weekly closure, but they remained closed as the CNG association has called an indefinite strike against the government’s decision to impose additional cess on the CNG sector. The citizens said rulers had done nothing but make the masses mentally ill. They said electricity was not available if they stayed at home and CNG was not available if they went out of the hous. The chairman of the All Pakistan CNG Association threatened expelling those CNG station owners from the group who conducted business during the strike.
Petroleum Secretary Ejaz Chaudhry called the strike meaningless and demanded the association call off the strike immediately. Some CNG stations remained open in Karachi where long queues of cars were seen waiting their turn.
Commuters in Rawalpindi and Islamabad also suffered to a shortage of public transport. Taking advantage of the situation, taxi and rickshaw drivers charged exorbitant fares from commuters. Citizens across the country have demanded the government to settle the issue immediately by holding dialogue with gas dealers and the CNG association.
All Pakistan CNG Association Chairman Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha said the strike would continue until the government took back the raise in the price of CNG and cancelled the proposed CESS. Paracha said all CNG stations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Balochistan would remain closed until the acceptance of demands. “We need support from the public as we are fighting not only for ourselves but for the people as well,” he said. He also said the imposition of CESS would cost Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 extra burden on the budget of middle class families. He appealed to the public to bear the temporary suffering in order to avoid a bigger problem.
