23 November,2010 08:05 AM IST | | Vivek Sabnis
Be sure to make alternative arrangements on Thursday and Monday, when 8,000 CNG rickshaws agitate for gas
IF you depend on autorickshaws to move about the city, you had better have a back-up plan on Thursday and Monday.u00a0 Drivers and owners of thousands of autos that are powered by compressed natural gas (CNG) plan an agitation to protest against the acute scarcity of fuel outlets in the city and the rationing of gas.
Of the 11 CNG stations in the district, only one station is in the city proper; the others are far away in the suburbs or in Pimpri-Chinchwad and other places in the vicinity.
Around 8,000 autorickshaws have retrofitted CNG kits and their drivers are fed up of standing in serpentine queues for fuel, losing out on business. Passengers have to often hear a CNG rickshaw driver say he does not have enough fuel for the destination mentioned.
Many autorickshaw owners spent Rs 27,500 to install the CNG kit after the Bhurelal Committee appointed by the state two years ago made it compulsory for certain three-wheelers in the city to run on gas. Now the automen feel the investment is killing them as they can not earn enough to recover it as they have to often refuse passengers for lack of gas in the tank.
It is mandatory for new autorickshaws to be run on CNG, and also those three-wheelers that are 15 years old.
4-hour gas line
Autorickshaw drivers say the government should compensate them for the loss they suffer because of its incompetence and lack of planning.
"I paid Rs 27,500 for a special CNG kit of 4 kg capacity. But we get only 2 kg of CNG even after waiting in the queue for three to four hours. Bhapkar Pump on Satara road is the only option we have in the city for CNG and all the other six pumps are located in the district," said Salambhai Shaikh, an autorickshaw driver from Ghorpadi Peth.
Sharad Wadekar, a rickshaw driver from Bhawani Peth, said it was typical of the government to impose things on others and make them suffer a loss while it went unpunished for not keeping its side of the bargain.
"Why has the government made CNG compulsory when there is no adequate stock available? It gets worse on Thursdays when there is a power cut," said Wadekar.
Broken promise
Besides the Satara road CNG outlet, there is one in Wakdewadi, but it does not cater to autorickshaws. The Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited (MNGL) outlet in Wakdewadi is the biggest in the city, but the fuel there is only for PMPML buses.
Nana Kshirsagar, president of the Maharashtra Rickshaw Sena, said MNGL had taken up the responsibility of providing CNG to city pumps but had failed to provide adequate stock.
"Our demand is to ensure that all the 8,000 rickshaws should get reimbursement for the (CNG kit) installation fee because there is no CNG available in the city. There is a rule that if we do not get CNG for our vehicles, our monthly instalments shall be waived off," said Kshirsagar.
On Monday, the Maharashtra Rickshaw Sena will organise a tala band, or forced closure, of the Regional Transport Office to demand waiver of instalments for the CNG kits.
Before that, on Thursday, members of another union will go on a hunger strike.
Dr Baba Adhav, president of the Rickshaw Panchayat, said the CNG supplier companies and MNGL had made the problem worse and that the union was organising the hunger strike to protest against denial of adequate gas to autorickshaws.
"We shall go for a hunger strike before the MNGL pump in Wakdewadi this Thursday," said Adhav.u00a0
MNGL Deputy manager (CNG) Kartik Tiku said the capacity of the Wakdewadi CNG outlet would be doubled and that it was only waiting for a green signal from the Pune Municipal Corporation.
"We hope to start it as early as possible, but can't make an assurance on the exact time-frame," said Tiku.
Bharat Petroleum Commercial Director K L Thussu said while there was ample CNG available in the city, the problem was lack of distribution outlets.
"We have few outlets for providing CNG. Two more are expected to start by December-end," said Thussu. "One is at Pulgate and the other at Shivajinagar."
