PESHAWAR: Thin traffic was seen in the provincial capital on Saturday as the unavailability of CNG forced most vehicles, including public transport, off the road due to unavailability of CNG.

The transporters, who opted to put vehicles on the road, overcharged commuters causing hot exchanges in several areas.

The gas supply to filling stations in the province came to a halt in the day after terrorists blew up the main pylon of Gurgurai gas fields in Kohat.

Commuters said they had not option but to use auto-rickshaws and taxis to reach destinations and therefore, rickshaw drivers and cabbies fleeced them.

Gas supply to filling stations suspended after terrorists exploded main pylon in Kohat

A passenger said the official fare from Hashtnagri to Saddar Bazaar was Rs10 per person but he had to pay double the amount for riding a public transport vehicle in the day.

He also said the fare from Haji Camp bus stand to Karkhano Market was Rs25 per person and transporters charged Rs60 instead.

The transporters said they went to all CNG stations near the Haji Camp bus stand but gas was not sold.

They said they charged higher than the official fare only because they had to use the costlier petrol in absence of gas.

“We can’t help but charge higher fare. If we don’t do it, we’ll suffer loss, which we can’t afford,” said transporter Ghazan Khan.

Urban Transport Union President Khan Zaman Afridi said CNG was unavailable in the entire province.

He, however, said the government didn’t inform transporters about suspension of gas supply.

“We always cooperate with the government and didn’t revise fare though the prices of petroleum products went up many times in the recent past,” he said.

Afridi said the people should extend cooperation to transporters.

He said most transport vehicles were run on CNG, so their owners couldn’t use petrol without increasing fare.

Owners of filling stations said they didn’t know the exact cause of suspension of gas supply but had heard some terrorist activity was to blame.

“We are in contact with the relevant authorities, who insist supply will be restored soon,” Khanzada of a CNG station said.

When contacted, All Pakistan CNG Association chairmen Ghias Paracha said gas supply to CNG stations had been suspended due to a terrorist activity at the Gurgurai gas fields.

He said terrorists had blown up the main pipeline of the Gurgurai gas fields.

The APCNGA chairman said gas supply was to be restored by 4pm on Saturday but it was delayed to help domestic consumers cook meal for Iftar.

He said it was unfortunate that gas supply had been stopped to CNG stations and not industrial units.

Paracha said the government favoured industries to stress out the common man by suspending gas supply to filling stations.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2014