Brace for fewer autos, taxis on Tuesday as well

Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL) has declared that the gas pipeline damaged on Sunday would be restored only around noon on Tuesday

Mumbai: A majority of taxis, autos and aggregator cabs are likely to stay off roads for the third consecutive day on Tuesday as the Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL) has declared that the gas pipeline damaged on Sunday would be restored only around noon on Tuesday.

Out of 389 CNG stations under MGL in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai, only 225 stations were operational on Monday due to disruption of supply at CGS Wadala. (Praful Gangurde/ HT Photo)

On Monday, more than 90% of the 280,000 autos and the 25,000 kaali-peeli taxis in the city stayed off roads even as commuters complained of surges in aggregator cab prices. Many autos and taxis were seen parked beside arterial roads and bylanes and serpentine queues were seen across the city, leading up to compressed natural gas (CNG) stations. Even 2,000 out of the nearly 8,000 school buses in the city stayed off road on Monday due to the fuel shortage.

Gas supply to MGL’s City Gate Station (CGS) at Wadala has been disrupted since Sunday after the main gas supply pipeline inside the Rashtriya Chemical Factory premises at Trombay suffered third-party damage, a statement released by MGL on Monday said.

Out of 389 CNG stations under MGL in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai, only 225 stations were operational on Monday due to disruption of supply at CGS Wadala, the statement said. Gas supply to domestic consumers was continuing uninterrupted despite the disruption, it noted.

“Gas supplies across our network will normalise once the damage is rectified and supply is restored to CGS Wadala. The rectification work is in progress and the restoration of gas supply is expected by tomorrow (November 18) noon,” an MGL spokesperson said on Monday.

Shortage of CNG pushed a majority of kaali peelis off roads on Monday, said Prem Singh, president, Mumbai Taximen’s Association.

“There were barely a couple of taxis on road today. More than 90% kaali peelis stood parked,” he said.

Serpentine queues comprising autos and taxis, stretching up to 2 kilometres in some instances, were seen outside some CNG stations that stayed open on Monday, which in turn led to traffic snarls around those areas.

“Gas was available here in the morning but the police stopped the supply because long queues were causing traffic jams,” said Pappu Yadav, who was waiting in line at the Tardeo RTO CNG station on Monday afternoon. “Gas supply may start anytime today or tomorrow. That’s why we are still waiting.”

The situation with auto rickshaws was similar.

Arjun Singh, an auto driver from Borivali, said he had last refuelled his vehicle on Sunday night, after queuing up for nearly three hours.

“I don’t know if I will be able to take my rickshaw out on Tuesday if the situation doesn’t normalise,” he said.

The Mumbai Autorickshaw–Taximen’s Union has sought compensation from the transport minister for the losses suffered by drivers on Sunday and Monday.

“I have written a letter to the state government seeking compensation for auto and taxi drivers,” said Shashank Sharad Rao, president of the union.

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) claimed that its 1,225 CNG buses were not much impacted by the supply disruption as BEST had priority supply from MGL as well as separate CNG lines inside some depots.

“The pressure of gas supply, however, was low on Monday. So it took a long time to refuel buses,” a BEST official said.