Transporters and commuters in the federal capital on Saturday found it difficult to get Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to run their vehicles as they had to stand in long queues to get the utility.
The reason behind their difficulties was that many of the residents of Rawalpindi also rushed towards the capital’s CNG stations to get fuel for their cars after an announcement by the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
However, the plight of CNG owners have come to an end after the order passed by the IHC in which it stayed the load management plan of the Petroleum Ministry regarding the three-day CNG closure.
On the other hand, the vehicle owners are still facing hardships, as many of the CNG stations have not been opened and they are lining up at the remaining ones to get the precious fuel. “I have found CNG but most of the stations are still closed,” said Tasneem Jamal, a female citizen.
Taxi drivers, who generally run their cabs in Rawalpindi, also moved towards the federal capital on Friday evening when the owners started opening their filling stations.
Several CNG station owners, while talking to Pakistan Today, said all the hardships being faced by the transporters and commuters would come to an end, as they had decided to move to the court of law against the CNG closure in Punjab too. “The government itself encouraged the use of CNG as an alternate fuel for motor vehicles and urged the citizens to switch to the economical fuel to save money and oil,” said Muhammad Manzoor, the owner of Rajput CNG Station.
Haji Lal Gul, the owner of Gift CNG station, said out of a total of 3,329 CNG stations in Pakistan, 109 were in Islamabad while there were over 2.5 million CNG fuelled cars in the country.
In addition, he said, the CNG industry had also created as estimated 200,000 jobs, with an investment of approximately 115 billion rupees, which was the largest single investment by the private sector in the country, adding that three-day closure had forced them to shut down their businesses.
“We were unable to even feed our families but now the court has given us a hope and it will give its decision in the greater interest of the public,” said Haji Lal.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Ghiyas Paracha said they would also move the Lahore High Court against the three-day CNG closure in Punjab region.
He said the CNG closure was tantamount to their financial murder, adding that all the CNG stations in the city would now remain open during whole week. “All the problems being faced by us and transporters would come to an end,” he hoped.
