2 CNG pumps remain shut, fuel long queues

GURGAON: With two CNG stations shut over the weekend, the city witnessed long queues outside the rest of the filling stations, which even caused traffic jams as waiting vehicles spilled on to the roads.
Haryana City Gas (HCG) officials said CNG supply to the Sector 29 station was stopped because of the dispute between owners, and a technical fault in the compressor at the Sector 53 station forced it to remain shut on Saturday and Sunday.“The CNG station in Sector 29 has been sealed in the presence of police. Pump operations have been discontinued because of the dispute. The action has been taken to maintain law and order,” said an official from HCG.
As a result, commuters had to head towards the three other filling stations in the city, which led to queues up to two kilometers long at the CNG pumps in Sector 44, 53 and 22. Sumit Kankal, a senior manager with Dell, said, “I usually get the gas filled in 10 to 15 minutes. But today, it has already been half an hour and I don’t yet know when my turn will come. I have never seen such long queues here,” he said.
As they grew impatient after a long wait, some people tried to jump the queue, which only added to the chaos as pump owners struggled to manage the crowds. Pump owners, however, did not mind the hassle as they sold double the amount as that on an usual day.
“We have formed two queues depending on which nozzle the customers prefer. Although there are at least 70% more people today, being a weekend, it is still lean. Weekdays will be worse,” said Rajkumar Singh, manager of CNG station in Sector 53. Surinder Yadav, manager of CNG station in Sector 44 said the sales had doubled, but said the authorities should take some action for smooth functioning of filling stations. “This is not the first time the Sector 29 station has been shut down. Ultimately, the public suffers,” he said.