THE natural gas is a fortune for Pakistan but only if we utilize it to its best potential. By using it as CNG in automobiles Pakistan can save over $500 million a year and render our environment cleaner.
This can start to happen almost immediately but only if we have the will to bring a CNG policy that is result-oriented, practical and designed by scientists and engineers.
Since this is a project well within our reach, it should be given priority over and above the Iran-India gas transmission pipeline, which too, is expected to bring additional revenues of $500 million but n this we are totally dependent upon India which may not implement it only to deny Pakistan the anticipate revenue.
From the rosy CNG policy statements coming out of Islamabad and some high profile seminars, promising Pakistan an overnight fortune, to the simple people attracted to invest in this sector and getting some dozen and a half NOC (mostly from unrelated departments) , one is shocked to find no co-ordination and no hurry at the corridors where a CNG station is actually implemented. Job saving, if’s and but’s searching bureaucrats look for every possible reason as to how they can find an objection so the NOC for setting up a CNG station is not issued. You are asked to go to irrigation department when the canal is no where near, only to find a dozen trips later that the ‘patwari’ has not yet written that the canal is not passing from nearby. The environment department’s NOC is one of the most expensive and difficult one to get. Is environment hazard not the same for all CNG stations? No. They must visit each site. You have to take them and bring them back. On the way you get to know how over-worked they are and how badly they are paid and you also find out how profitable your CNG station is going to be. Other NOC’s include A.C. city, traffic police, civil defence, railways, highways development authority, municipal corporation, WASA, SNGPL, Wapda etc.
Finally after some 16 NOC’s, an ex-DC issues the NOC but his powers are usually taken over by Commissioner, who had the final say. Now these powers are with the DCO. It is believed that some of the unnecessary NOC’s have been reduced but the housing department has come with the biggest blow and has fixed the land size to be 1.50 kanals with a front of 60 to 70 feet. It is shocking that this decision has no technical basis except the pre-conceived ideas of bosses to whom beauty comes before necessity, even if the 16 or so departments have cleared the site from technical point of view.
So pronounced has been the policy failure, particularly at Faisalabad, that in last 10 years only three operating CNG stations operate and that too on court’s stay orders. Investors had to go to the High Court against local administration to be able to open their stations. While the department of gas, ministry of petroleum and natural resources, can boast that they have issued hundreds of licenses, (which no doubt is true and they are working systematically but helplessly), the practical bottlenecks start to come after one has got the license from islamabad and is exposed to local administration.
In one interesting case at Faisalabad an NOC issued by the DC in writing after 16 departments okayed it, got sanctioned by the commissioner for issuance of the coveted document, was stopped by a newly arrived DC, who issued notice under anon applicable law regarding the land and the case with 16 NOC’s in hand, lies undecided for two years. What if the wise man had not arrived for another week. Faisalabad would have four CNG stations -some 20 young men employed, taxes for government, savings of foreign exchange and profits for the investor but more than all that a CNG station serving the people. What do we have - another court case where the administration will be defeated but no one will be punished.
If we really want to make CNG popular in Pakistan following few points are to be taken care of:
Since a tank full of CNG does almost 100 km of city driving, most cars have to go for a fill almost daily. As such many more CNG stations are required than as compared to petrol pumps. The convenience with which a CNG station is located, plays a major role in increase in CNG usage. if we have a target to use 10 per cent of our natural gas (presently less than 2 per cent) as fuel for vehicles than we are anticipating some 500 per cent increase in CNG fitted vehicles, which further determines the number of required CNG stations. Since the middle class is more likely to accept the inconvenience of almost daily fill-up and to go for savings on CNG usage, the new CNG stations have to be built within the cities and in each part of a city.
Recently the Punjab Housing and Physical Planning Department has come with some new conditions which need to be addressed. IF CNG policy is to be made a success following points need to be considered:
The department has set the requirement of 1.50 kanal as minimum size of land for CNG Station. Kanals are differently sized in different cities of Punjab e.g., a kanal in Lahore is 4,500 sq.ft while in most other cities it is 5,400 sq.ft. The difference is a huge 20 per cent. Why this difference when the requirements of a CNG station are the same, where ever it be located. This only shows that the size of the plot has been fixed arbitrarily as is our national character and possibly be non-technical persons. Let an expert be given the task to design a CNG station on a smallest possible size of land, keeping in-view all requirements. Let such a design be a yard stick for bigger lands. Since it is our need to have as many stations and in as many areas as possible, we should come with an attitude of making it easy and simple.
The ministry of petroleum and natural resources, the directorate of gas has issued a green booklet that is the only official guide, for setting a CNG station. This is an engineering and safely document, and it only lays down safe distances between component equipment items at a CNG station. The requirement of safe distances should determine the size of the plot, and no land size is laid down in this book. Those countries which worked scientifically to benefit from CNG came up with all possible engineering solutions to locate a CNG stations in smallest possible lots so that more and more CNG stations are established. This resulted in the introduction of packaged units in very presentable containers and we see such units installed in small spaces all over Europe. With such units a CNG station can fit conveniently in a half kanal land, with 50 feet front.
The road frontage of plot has been set at above 55’. This too has not been based on any scientific basis. it has not been realized that only small vehicles go to CNG stations. Most small vehicles have a turning radius of less than 20’. As such a car can easily enter and turnaround to come out without reversing from a plot that is 40 feet wide - this factor alone determines the width of land required or its frontage on the main entry road. A CNG station with 50’ front should pose no problem and should be adopted since 50 feet is a standard front for a one kanal plot in most parts of Punjab.
Within city areas and on commercial roads, where CNG stations are required to be located, 1.50 kanal plots with over 50’ to 60 frontage are either not available or are very expensive. Both these factors are negative to intended CNG popularity.
A CNG station is a one item station, as opposed to a petrol pump. A petrol pump dispenses a number of types of fuels and is allowed to have a CNG station on the same land as well. It accommodates even the heavy traffic (diesel trucks and buses), Trailers come to unload fuel into tanks. Car wash, food mart, etc., are also there. While 2-kanals land is required for a petrol pump-cum-CNG station, asking for 1.50 kanals from a CNG only station is not only CNG policy defeating, but has stopped a number of projects which were in the pipeline and had put in over two years of effort in getting NOC’s and had made substantial investment. The success in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi where CNG is more popular than the rest of Pakistan, has been precisely because smaller plots of land were allowed, Distance between CNG stations was not made an issue and there has been no accidents and no problems. Now it seems we want to stop this growth as if we have had more CNG stations than we need and we need to make it difficult for the new investors and to other cities.
Another non-technical condition introduced in Punjab by the department is that the distance between CNG stations or Petrol Pumps should not be less than one kilometre. This has no scientific basis. If traffic police has no objection than what else is required. If any where in the world there has been a problem based on distance between stations it should be scientifically discussed. There are CNG stations located right next to each other in Rawalpindi, what problems have these posed? What if a CNG station is located next to a popular grocery store which takes more traffic than a NG station? We need to wake up to ground realities and not leave technical matters to imagination of non-technical persons. The respect for right and freedom to business community alone can make our country prosperous and not excessive controls.
One-window operation by the ministry of petroleum and natural resources should be adopted, whose team should visit each city to finalize cases once each month, so that a uniform policy is adopted for Pakistan as a whole and whims and pre-conceived different ideas of different bosses in different cities are suppressed. Each local boss tries to invent a CNG station that he thinks is best and a national policy is made to go down the drain.
Lastly there is the question of implementing the new policy parameters on existing CNG stations as well. We are a democracy (inshallah) and law should be the same for all, this country has suffered enough already for making exceptions. 75 per cent of the existing CNG stations fail to meet the new requirements of land size, location and frontage. Some do meet but fail the distance qualification between two stations. Do we intend to close these stations? If not, why and how we will accept supposedly unfit and dangerous stations? Will we give them time to close business? If two stations are less than one kilometre apart, which of the two we will close? These and many questions need answers and quickly before the investors convert their money into dollars and also decide to leave Pakistan. A CNG station costs Rs20 million. It is no small investment. Frustrated investors can pack off as this is good money to start a new life anywhere.
A dedicated CNG policy which has set targets to achieve and is result-oriented needs to be put in place immediately. In order to achieve targets we will need to be flexible and will have to over come the present autocratic mindset. With exports dwindling, with scarce foreign exchange and with increasing pollution, we have no choice but to make CNG popular and in a short time. The private sector is more than willing to play its role, but only if allowed gracefully to do so. safdar ebr/cng24 125cm