MNGL comes under pressure to get land for CNG pumps
With nearly 3,000 new compressed natural gas-run vehicles added on city roads every month, authorities at Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited are concerned about meeting the growing demand. The state-owned gas company currently has 55 CNG stations in Pune. Speaking about the number of compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles in the city, director-commercial for Maharashtra Natural Gas Ltd Santosh Sontakke said, “Currently, there are over 1.5 lakh CNG-run four-wheelers in the city. The number of CNG autorickshaws stands at approximately 50,000, while there are 200 CNG-powered two-wheelers. With 55 CNG stations, we are running at optimum capacity and just about meeting the demand for gas albeit with long waiting periods.” According to Sontakke, at least 25 new CNG stations are required in the city to keep up with the rising demand. “Right now, we are running at capacity but if the number of CNG-powered vehicles keeps rising at the same rate, lines at the existing CNG stations will only get longer. We need at least 80 CNG stations in the city to keep up with the demand in future,” he explained. While the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) offered nine parcels of land to develop CNG stations, Sontakke said that most plots are not feasible. “Many aren’t feasible due to neighbouring residential areas or highly compact localities. In some cases, the land is disputed so we cannot establish a set-up there. We have repeatedly taken up the matter with the authorities and even the city Member of Parliament but to no avail,” he explained. The official further stated that MNGL has also approached the cantonment boards in the city but it is still awaiting a response. “For land in the cantonment area, we have also taken up the matter with the defence minister through the city MP,” he added. According to Sontakke, the CNG stations running at optimal capacities coupled with the long lines are also coming in the way of more conversions. “People do not want to wait in line to re-fuel and seeing the long lines at CNG stations, they are discouraged from switching to CNG. We urgently need to expand our network so that people do not have to waste hours in line for re-fuelling,” he added.