RAWALPINDI: Long queues of vehicles at the CNG filling stations are about to end at least in Punjab as the cheap fuel will be available throughout the week from next month.

Though CNG will not be available round the clock, the motorists will be able to get their tanks filled eight hours a day.

Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is likely to announce the new schedule at the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) head offices in Lahore on March 29.

The new schedule was informally agreed upon by CNG owners association and the petroleum ministry on March 21.

However, the ministry took time for preparing the schedule after consultations with the natural gas supply company in Punjab. “The SNGPL suggested allowing the filling stations to open from 6am to 2pm daily for 15 days and for the next 15 days from 2pm to 10pm daily,” said a senior SNGPL official while talking to Dawn.

The schedule will be different for all the regions so that the supply of CNG would not affect the domestic consumers and industries in big cities. He said the CNG owners association had agreed on this point. The new schedule is likely to be implemented from April 1.

CNG Owners Association Chairman Ghayyas Abdullah Paracha told Dawn that the federal government had accepted their long-standing demand to provide natural gas to the motorists throughout the week.

“Apparently, the PML-N government is going to fulfil its promise made during the election campaign to end long queues of vehicles at the filling stations. The government understood the stance of the filling station owners and saved Rs450 billion investment made in the CNG sector by the local investors.”

He said the SNGPL had issued notices and verbally informed the CNG stations in twin cities not to open the filling stations on Thursday (today) but almost all the stations remained open as per the Islamabad High Court orders.

When contacted, SNGPL Rawalpindi general manager Javed Iqbal said the company had not received any order about the new schedule. “This week, the CNG filling stations were allowed to open for two days.”

He said the company did not take action against the violators on Thursday to avoid a clash when the matter was going to be resolved.

“The new schedule for next week will arrive on Monday. If the minister announced the new timings the company will follow it after getting written directions from the government,” he added.