Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's CNG stations go on strike for indefinite period

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa went on strike from Monday for indefinite period to protest ban on the import of CNG kits, cylinders, filling gas in commercial vehicles and closure of the stations in the name of gas load management plan.
Talking to Business Recorder, Chairman CNG Association, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pervez Khan Khattak, claimed that all CNG stations observed complete strike in the province on Monday. "It was a complete strike and all 600 CNG stations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remained closed," he said.
Notwithstanding Khattak's claim, some stations in Peshawar remained open and filled gas in the vehicles that minimise the affect of the strike on the general public. The strike had no major impact on the flow of traffic in the provincial metropolis. When asked about non-observance of strike by some CNG stations, Khattak said that the number of such stations was negligible and that could not affect the unity of the community. However, he said that the association had constituted committees that were visiting different roads and talking to the management of CNG stations in this regard.
Regarding contacts with the government, he said that though the central association had held negotiations with Federal Secretary Petroleum and Natural Resources, but it remained fruitless. He opined that the pressure of the people would force the government to accept their demands.
To a question regarding the hardships faced by the commuters, he said that they were aware of the problems faced by the people, but it was the government that was not caring for them. He said that the strike would continue till the acceptance of their demands.
In the wake of the CNG stations strike, transporters fleeced the commuters demanding higher fares. People travelling from Swabi to Peshawar on Monday complained that they were charged Rs 250 as fare by the public transport against the routine fare of Rs 120 under the pretext of CNG stations' strike.
Though the government has announced separate fares for the CNG-run public transport vehicles, but none of them is observing the official fares, rather they are increasing their fares with the hike in price of petroleum products. The association says that they are paying Rs 33 billion annually in the heads of sales and income taxes to the national exchequer. Furthermore, Khattak said that the usage of CNG as alternative energy had led to cut in import of petrol by four billion litres annually, saving a foreign exchange of $3 billion.
According to reports, commuters faced numerous problems due to closure of the CNG stations in district Swabi. The CNG filling stations observed strike on the call of their provincial association. There was no public transport vehicle in the Swabi general bus stand early in the morning to pick up the commuters but later on those vehicles which ran on diesel and petrol started service.
The CNG stations and transporters in Mansehra also observed complete strike in protest against the increase in CNG price. The public transport vehicles remained off the road in Mansehra district from early morning to late evening causing inconvenience to the commuters.