Nagpur: The ongoing conflict in West Asia is now affecting the supply of compressed natural gas (CNG) in the city, with several taxi drivers complaining about long queues and extended waiting times at filling stations due to low pressure.Many drivers claim that the waiting time at CNG pumps reached nearly two hours, disrupting their daily operations and forcing some of them to shift to costlier fuel alternatives.Milind Gadre, who owns a fleet of taxis, said that he temporarily shifted his operations to petrol because of the increased waiting time at CNG pumps. “Already, CNG pumps used to witness long queues, but recently the waiting period reached around two hours due to low pressure. CNG is affordable for us, but due to uncertain supply we were forced to shift to petrol,” said Gadre, adding that the prices of CNG increased, but only minimally.Taxi drivers said the long waiting hours are affecting their working schedules and reducing the number of trips they can make in a day. Several drivers said that even though petrol is significantly more expensive than CNG, they are choosing it to avoid losing valuable working time in queues.According to drivers, 7 kg of CNG costs around Rs630 and allows a car to run nearly 200km, bringing the operational cost to roughly Rs4 per kilometre. In comparison, running a vehicle on petrol costs about Rs7 per kilometre. The authorised CNG distributor for Nagpur district, Haryana City Gas (HCG), supplies fuel to 27 pumps across the district, including its own outlets. HCG receives CNG from GAIL and is responsible for distribution across the city.However, a senior HCG official denied that any disruption in CNG supply was reported. “The consumption also did not decrease in the last 2 days,” the official said, adding that no restrictions were announced by the govt on CNG so far, though such measures could be considered if the situation escalates.
