Association threatens to raiseauto fares as CNG gets costlier
Patna: The rising cost of compressed natural gas (CNG) and its scarcity has worried thousands of autorickshaw drivers in the city. They said the state government should set up more CNG filling stations and increase supply so that the drivers are not required to wait for 4-5 hours in queues in this sultry weather to fill the tanks of their autorickshaws. The price of CNG further shot up on Monday with a rise of Rs 2.50 per kg after the state-owned companies revised the rates. With the latest hike, CNG is now priced at 84.46 per kg in city. It was the fifth hike in last four months. During the last four months, CNG price has increased by up to Rs 14.5 per kg, from Rs 69.96 in February. According to Bihar State Auto Chalak Sangh, it would have no option but to increase auto fares in the city by up to 30% from June 1 if the state government failed to fulfill its demand. General secretary of the association, Raj Kumar Jha, said only CNG autos are now allowed to ply in the city and neighboring areas like Danapur, Phulwarisharif and Khagaul. “The petrol and diesel-run autorickshaws were phased out without proper planning by the state government,” Jha added. He said while at least 22,000 CNG-run autorickshaws ply on the roads, there are just 19 CNG filling stations in the city. “The government first forced autorickshaw drivers to retrofit CNG kits and then put pressure on them to replace all the diesel-run autos with CNG vehicles. Now, the auto drivers have to spend 4-5 hours in queue to get CNG. The employees at these stations also fool the illiterate drivers. In a CNG kit of 4-kg capacity, they claim they fill 6-kg gas and take money from the drivers,” he alleged. Jha said a delegation of the association would meet the transport commissioner on Thursday and submit its proposal of increasing auto fares by up to 30%. “Even if the government rejects our proposal, we will go ahead with the hike,” he said. Ranjeet Kumar, an auto driver, said, “Though CNG is being sold at a lower price than diesel and petrol, its non-availability in most gas stations is a problem. A long queue of private cabs and autos can be seen at all CNG stations in the city.” Another auto driver, Umesh Kant, said, “I used to buy petrol at a fuel station near Gandhi Maidan before April. However, I have to go to Rupaspur now and wait for hours to get CNG. It causes me huge loss.”
