The Taxi Drivers Welfare Association (TDWA) on Wednesday staged a protest against the three-days-a-week CNG closure policy, and demanded the government ensure uninterrupted provision of CNG to transporters.
They chanted slogans against the government’s apathy and in favour of their demands.
Speaking on the occasion, TDWA President Malik Aftab said the government needed to make efforts to ensure the provision of CNG to taxi drivers throughout the week in all four zones of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. He said OGRA and the petroleum minister was responsible for this problem, adding that commuters were also suffering because “it is obvious that a driver who runs his car on petrol will also charge according to the petroleum prices”. He said most of drivers were running on petrol owing to CNG shortage.
He said most of the 72,000 taxis operating in Rawalpindi and Islamabad ran on CNG, and the loss caused due to the closure of CNG stations was unimaginable. “Citizens would be deprived of every transport facility,” he said. As most taxi drivers belong to poor families, shortage of CNG meant starvation for them: “We have now decided to go to any length if the government fails to revoke the three-day CNG closure policy,” he added.
Meanwhile, the OGRA chairman assured a delegation of taxi drivers that one or two pumps would be allowed to provide CNG to taxi drivers throughout the week. He said he was aware of the problems commuters faced due to CNG closure. The OGRA chairman said the petroleum minister was out of the country and the issue would be resolved as soon as he returned.
