Motorists have been compelled to spend endless hours of the day and even nights at Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations of the city as the cheap fuel is available only for two days in a week – Monday and Thursday.
The motorists are among worst sufferers as public transport vehicles, having multiple cylinders, are seen at the CNG outlets, leaving hardly any space especially for office-goers.
On Thursday, multiple undisciplined queues, stretching over more than a kilometre on the city’s main, inner and link roads at CNG stations were witnessed where motorists were lined-up for around 15 hours before the outlets opened.
Hundreds of vehicles were lined-up in an ill-organized manner at CNG outlets near Soan Camp, Fauji Foundation Hospital, Saddar, Murree and Adiala roads, affecting the smooth flow of traffic.
Majority of them were public transport vehicles who manage to get CNG and ply on their respective routes and charge exorbitant fares from the commuters.
There were mixed views about the schedule being implemented at present across the province. Many criticized it saying that two gas-days are not only insufficient but also uncomfortable for them to get CNG, keeping in view the working hours.
The worst sufferers are the office-goers and motorists who are unable to get the fuel due to ever swelling CNG queues mainly dominated by public transporters.
Some were satisfied with CNG stations functioning even for two days, saying that everyone should have choice whether he wants CNG or petrol at the cost of “time or money.”
A motorist, Rameez Khan, standing in a queue at Soan Camp expressed his anger over mismanagement on part of CNG stations for filling the cylinders in an ill-organised manner. He alleged that some staff violated the queue of first-come-first-serve to mint extra money from selected customers and public transport, which causes rush at the stations.
Another motorist, Ahmed Ali, filling petrol in his vehicle near Chur Chowk said nowadays time is money and he could not afford several hours in line for getting cheap fuel.