Facing CNG shortage,city to get 13 more outlets this fiscal

Pune city,which is facing severe shortage of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG),finally gets a breather with Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited (MNGL) planning to roll out 13 more CNG outlets,this fiscal.

Pune city,which is facing severe shortage of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG),finally gets a breather with Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited (MNGL) planning to roll out 13 more CNG outlets,this fiscal. It will take the total number of outlets to 28.

MNGL plans to set up 50 CNG pumps by 2014. The pumps will come up on private,government lands as well as at retail petrol pump outlets. There were problems in getting the land allotted. However,now 13 more outlets for customers and two dedicated CNG outlets for the PMPML will be ready by the end of this financial year, MNGL officials said.

The city has been grappling with shortage of CNG for sometime now. Nine petrol pumps supplying CNG have even threatened to go on strike. District collector Vikas Deshmukh on Friday announced a single-window system to help expedite the pending proposals for CNG outlets. Food Distribution Officer (FDO) will be the monitoring authority expected to co-ordinate with all other departments in giving clearances. MNGL officials called it a positive move.

Story continues below this ad

MNGL had recently proposed to start CNG pumps on private lands as government land was not easily available. It had proposed 21 locations. However,it received responses for only 14 sites. Of these,CNG pumps on eight sites will soon come up,officials said.

FDO Dnyaneshwar Jawanajal said a monthly meeting will be held to discuss the status of each proposal. We will get the department officials under one roof to clear the proposals so that the process of setting up CNG pumps can be expedited. This will especially benefit autorickshaws, he said.

Click here to join Express Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated list of our stories