Traffic at the Ruby intersection was disrupted on Monday morning as a group of autorickshaw and app-cab drivers blocked a flank of EM Bypass to protest the alleged unavailability of CNG at pumps in the city at a time convenient for them.
Police said the Science City-bound flank from the Ruby crossing was blocked between 10 and 10.30am on Monday, forcing the police to divert north-bound traffic through the other flank of the Bypass.
Several motorists who were stuck in the snarls complained that they were caught off guard and delayed for office on the first working day of the week.
“Such road blockades are uncalled for. I reached office almost 30 minutes late,” said a resident of Patuli who works in Salt Lake Sector V.
The disruption was triggered by the timings of a CNG pump, located in the compound of the regional transport office in Kasba, from where the protesters refill their vehicles.
Autorickshaw drivers and app-cab drivers who stationed their vehicles in the middle of the road blocking the way for commuters said they
were facing “massive problems” because the pump — like other CNG refill stations in the city — remains closed between 10pm and 6am.
“There are limited number CNG pumps in the city and to add to our problems, the pumps remain closed between 10pm and 6am resulting in huge queues in the morning,” said one of the auto drivers.
Another driver said many of them had to ply a long distance just to reach a CNG pump for a refill.
“If our demands are not met, next time we will block both flanks of the Bypass,” he said.
According to sources in the oil industry, there are 12 CNG pumps in and around Calcutta at present. Fifteen more are under construction.
“At present, the pumps are being serviced from Durgapur. Trucks carrying caskets that can hold only 400kg of CNG are being brought to the city’s gas stations, resulting in a long turnaround time,” said an oil industry source.
Oil industry sources said the availability issues could be addressed only after the project of laying pipelines to the city was completed.
“The project is delayed because of issues related to land. But we are hopeful
that the problems would reduce to a large extent once the pipeline reaches Gayeshpur in Nadia, from where it would be easier and faster to transport the gas to the city,” the source said.