RAWALPINDI: Long queues of vehicles outside the filling stations in Rawalpindi and Islamabad have become a routine as petrol crisis entered eighth day on Tuesday.

The students had to bear the brunt of the petrol shortage as attendance in the school and colleges remained thin.

“The terrorists failed to disrupt educational activities, but petrol crisis did it,” said Mohammad Khalid, an owner of a private school on Peshawar Road.

He said attendance in the school was almost half as only 430 out of 800 students attended the school.

The private school owner said the staff was also facing problems in attending schools.

“There are two problems: One is fuel shortage for personal car and second are the van owners who refused to provide pick and drop service,” said Mohammad Waseem, a resident of Westridge.

He said it would be better not to send children to school for a few days.

He said he got the fuel from the Constitution Avenue after waiting for three hours in queue.

“When my turn came, the workers refused to give the fuel more than Rs1,000. Somehow,I managed to get Rs1,500 fuel. I saved it for emergency and going to office for next two days,” he said.  

Crisis disrupts routine as attendance in schools, offices remain thin

Sajid Raja, a motorist at Jhanda Chichi filling station, said like Lahore the government should open CNG stations in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad as they also need alternative fuel in such crisis.

He said once the public transport and some private vehicles turned to CNG, the long queues will become short.

On the other hand, All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA) on Tuesday welcomed the government’s decision to reopen Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations in Lahore.

“It will help subside petrol crisis,” he said.

“The decision helped CNG outlets mitigate the problems of the people, bailing out the transport sector and bringing life to normal in the provincial metropolis,” said Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha, leader of the APCNGA.

He said the crisis would go away within next two days as people should not worry about scarcity of petrol in the presence of CNG.

He said there were a total 580 CNG filling stations in Potohar Region including Islamabad and it would help the government to improve the situation.

He said the people of Punjab had been badly hit by the petrol crisis therefore the government should sympathetically consider giving relief to the people in the shape of CNG.

Ghiyas Paracha said opening up CNG filling stations across Punjab would provide relief to the people, reducing oil import bill, lessen pressure on forex reserves and provide employment to millions.

He said the experience of Lahore has proved beyond any doubt that CNG was critical part of the fuel system and daily life which reduces dependence on imported fossil fuel and it is immune from volatility of international markets.

Published in Dawn January 21st , 2015

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