With no permits, filling stations, CNG auto operators in crisis

RTO says they will be given city permits soon

Even when the State government and the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) make tall claims for the promotion of non-polluting vehicles, drivers in the city who purchased CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) autorickshaws for their livelihood are now running pillar to post for the long-pending city permit and for the opening of CNG filling stations. About 10 autorickshaw drivers who spent around ₹2 lakh each to buy the autos are now facing a crisis.

With the absence of a CNG filling station in the city, they are still depending on petrol for operating their vehicles. Even after six months of the purchase, the promise made by the State government to open CNG filing stations in cities has not been fulfilled. It is now available only in Kochi.

“No one is aware of the crisis in the sector. We are now struggling to pay bank loan interests because operating the vehicles using petrol is not an affordable option. Besides, other auto drivers are not allowing us to operate within the city limits citing lack of permit,” says Balasubrahmanyan, one of the CNG auto drivers in the city. He adds that they had taken up the issue with the District Collector, Regional Transport Officer and local administrators. But to no avail.

T.V. Noushad, a union leader, says only the intervention of the State government can help CNG auto operators in the city. “In my vehicle, I am using LPG and even it is not available every time in our fuel stations,” he says. Meanwhile, Regional Transport Officer Subhash Babu said all technical issues related to the issuance of city service permits to CNG autorickshaws had already been settled by the government and they would be given permits soon from the Regional Transport Office. “They can directly approach the RTO in case of any technical hurdle,” he told The Hindu on Thursday.

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