Private vehicles face trouble getting CNG

new delhi: hitherto ignored consumers of compressed natural gas, private vehicle owners, are up in arms as indraprastha gas ltd (igl) has stopped supplying the gas to private vehicles registered as running on cng-mode after january 6, 2002. on october 29 last year, the union petroleum ministry issued a directive to igl to stop supply of the gas to private vehicles, citing shortage.however, igl went slack on the directive until the issue came up in parliament again, following which supply has had to be limited. the company then published notices in some local newspapers saying stickers would be supplied to those private vehicles which were registered as cng vehicles or those with registration certificates marked with cng as a second fuel, till before january 6. no cng is being supplied to private vehicles without the stickers. however, the delhi transport department continued to register cng vehicles even after january 6, leaving private users furious as to why registration was being allowed if no gas was to be supplied. ‘‘i had bought a second-hand esteem in november 1999 and got a cng-kit fitted immediately,’’ said s p khurana, an ashok vihar resident. ‘‘at that time, we were told there was no cng registration. since there was no immediate compulsion, we didn’t pursue the case. now suddenly this notice appears with not enough time to meet the deadline. the notice was published in only two papers and i came to know of it only later. after making the rounds in janakpuri and avoiding touts who were demanding up to rs 6,000 for a quick job, i got my car registration stamped with the cng authorisation on january 18. igl stations were also not being clear about the deadline. they made us understand that we had to registed by january 20, which was the deadline only for sticker applications. now they are refusing us stickers,’’ he said. ramesh sehgal, a resident of rohini, too is left without gas. ‘‘i purchased my car in faridabad. initially, the authorities there did not register my vehicle as cng. but after getting clearance from the union ministry via their chandigarh office, they stamped my registration certificate on january 20. now i can’t get gas. we have invested over rs 40,000 in the kit. where do we go,’’ he said. conceding that the transport department had not stopped registering new cng vehicles, transport commissioner sindhushree khullar said: ‘‘legally, under the motor vehicles act, we cannot stop registering a new vehicle. the union ministry had advised us in october last year to stop supplying cng to private vehicles in view of the shortage of the gas. however, the legal department is looking into the issue, especially for those vehicles that have been running on cng for years now.’’ transport minister ajay maken said the matter was being taken up with the union ministry. ‘‘since we are encouraging the use of cng, it doesn’t make sense to deprive private vehicles of the gas,’’ he said. however, igl has claimed helplessness, citing the union government order. ‘‘we have enough gas to meet the demand,’’ a senior official said. ‘‘the total demand of the city is four lakh kg a day and we can supply up to six lakh kg per day,’’ the official said.