RAWALPINDI, Jan 31: Public mobility came to a virtual halt as most of the CNG stations remained closed due to gas supply suspension and motorists converged on the few outlets open in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad on Thursday.

The long queues of CNG-powered vehicles including public transport at the CNG stations spread across hundreds of metres blocking traffic on the nearby roads.

The CNG distributors said 91 outlets out of 355 in the twin cities had been closed down due to supply discontinuation. They feared that the situation might deteriorate in the coming days.

President of the All-Pakistan CNG Association Tariq Kandaan told Dawn that gas supply to the 91 stations had been completely disconnected causing huge loss to the owners besides troubling the motorists.

Mr Kandaan regretted that the gas regulatory authorities including the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) and the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) had unilaterally disconnected gas supply to the outlets without consulting them.

He said there were about 320,000 CNG-powered vehicles including public transport in Rawalpindi-Islamabad that could not be supplied the fuel on time after closure of the 91 stations located on the highest sale points.

“We condemn this act in the strongest possible words and have formally registered our reservations and complaints with the gas supplying authorities,” Mr Kandaan added.

In reply to a question, he said there were so many other ways through which the government could have resolved the problem of domestic consumers after consulting the stakeholders.

“For example, the SNGPL and Ogra could have decreased gas pressure to CNG stations in order to satisfy domestic consumers but it does not make any logic and sense to completely disconnect gas supply to the CNG stations,” he argued.

He said the public transport vehicles plying on Route 1 (Sadder to Secretariat), Suzukis and vehicles operating between Sadder and Peshawar Mor were all CNG powered, as a result the passengers had to face great trouble as the vehicles had to wait for a long time at the filling stations.

The CNG association chief claimed that the government was planning to close down more CNG stations which, he said, would be a cruel and unjustified act.

But the managing director of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL), Rashid Lone, has said gas supply to only those outlets had been cut off which were located in congested areas, adding domestic consumers had more right to use the commodity than the CNG stations, adds APP.

He said 275 units had been closed down in Punjab and NWFP, out of which 10 per cent would be opened from tomorrow (Friday). He said in order to deal with the situation, a rotation formula had been devised under which gas supply to CNG stations would be cut off turn by turn.