KARACHI: While all Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations in the city remained barricaded owing to dealers’ protest over being “treated rudely” by an Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority official, some company pumps that also sell petrol and diesel kept their doors open for consumers on Thursday. Staff at such pumps said they would be back on Saturday doing the same work after the regular one-day CNG closure on Friday.

All CNG dealers association had earlier unanimously decided to switch selling CNG from kilograms to litres as is done in Punjab as they said it would help when they sell LNG instead of CNG very soon. But after concerns from consumers that it would increase the cost of this relatively cheaper fuel, they said they had been rudely ordered by the Ogra official to take back their decision, which they were adamant to do. Taking a stand on the issue, all the associations have gone on “indefinite strike”.

The queues of public transport vehicles, mostly rickhaws and taxis, with an occasional pick-up or public bus in between seemed endless, creating a traffic mess on the roads that had become narrower thanks to at least three rows on the side of the road where a CNG station was situated.

“I have been looking for CNG all over the city, in Lyari, Saddar, Defence without much luck. Where they were selling gas the queues were so long that I didn’t even dare join them. Now I am here in queue at this Shell pump on M.A. Jinnah Road and others are afraid of joining our extending queue,” said Mohammad Jahangir, a rickshaw driver, as he waited.

Nasir Ali, standing just behind him, said that Jahangir was lucky still as his rickshaw ran on petrol also. “My rickshaw is old and only runs on CNG. If this strike by the CNG dealers continues, I will be left completely high and dry and without my means of earning,” he said.

Alam Zeb, a Suzuki pick-up driver being towed to the CNG station by a rickshaw, with both also standing in queue, said that he ran out of CNG near Tibet Centre. “I was out of petrol anyway and am grateful to my friend here who towed me to this place,” he said.

“Well, don’t be too happy,” said Shahid Hussain, the driver of the rickshaw that towed his pick-up. “Dragging you along all this way has resulted in my running out of gas. I didn’t help you for free, you know,” he reminded Alam Zeb.

There was only one private car, a Suzuki Cultus in the queue, with a driver and a woman passenger seated at the back. “We have been waiting here for over one hour now. But the wait will be worth it if we have our fill in the end,” said Bano, the passenger.

Her driver Qasim, meanwhile, said he had been keeping a lookout while driving around during the day for pumps where there was CNG available. “Now, we are going to fill up before heading home so that we have enough for tomorrow,” he said, adding that it was wrong to say that the CNG strike was going to affect public transport vehicles more than private car owners. “A dead fish in a lake will pollute the water.”

Meanwhile, the filling staff at the station said they were tired but selling CNG non-stop. “We must have sold over 5,000 kilograms of CNG since morning,” said one. “In return, we are getting paid in money as well as prayers.”

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2016