Hyderabad: On January 12, 2011, after reviewing the progress on the “Action plan for improvement of air quality in Hyderabad,” a project that was initiated in October 2010, to check vehicular pollution in the city, Bhure Lal, chairman, Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Control Authority, had said, “An immediate shift to CNG from diesel and petrol is necessary to address the pollution woes of Hyderabad city.
The price of CNG in Hyderabad would be at least 25-30 per cent lesser than that of diesel. The city will get 14 gas filling stations to ensure the smooth functioning of 350 CNG-run RTC buses. Even domestic supply of CNG will be taken up in the next few months.”
Three years after, the price of CNG has increased to Rs 55 per kg, which is almost on par with diesel (Rs 59), the number of CNG-run buses have come down to 165 and the number of CNG pumps stands at 11.
Bhagyanagar Gas Ltd, the supplier of CNG in the city, was given a deadline of June 2013 to lay a 250-km pipeline to supply CNG to every part of the city at that time. But three years later, it can supply to only about 160 households. Thanks to the sharp increase in CNG prices, coupled with severe shortage and limited availability of CNG pumps in the city, CNG is no more a preferred option for motorists.
Severe shortage in the city is also discouraging motorists to opt for CNG. There are only 11 CNG pumps which fail to cater to the demand of auto rickshaws and cars.
Nearly 7,000 cars and 30,000 autos run on CNG in the city. Motorists waiting for hours together in serpentine queues for refills is a common sight at the limited number of CNG pumps. They end up spending up to six hours to get a refill.
“We are ready to launch six more CNG stations in the city. But the poor gas supplies from KG Basin are not sufficient to operate additional pumps. The existing pumps themselves are facing shortage of supplies. The government has to initiate measures for increasing the supplies,” said S. Hari Prasad, state oil coordinator for OMCs.
On the other hand, CNG-run car owners are cursing their fate for having opted for CNG vehicles. “I stay at Amberpet. The nearest CNG station for me is in Chaderghat. There is always a serpentine queue in that pump whenever I go for refill and many times I return without a refill. I am now forced to use my driver to get a refill who spends up to five hours at the pump,” said S. Sreenivas Reddy, who runs a school in Amberpet.
Autorickshaw drivers are also adversely affected on account of CNG shortage. “Most of our time is wasted in getting refills at CNG pumps. We are suffering losses on account of poor CNG supplies,” said B. Prasad, an autorickshaw driver.
