Srinivas Poojary urges Petroleum Minister to set right CNG supply in Udupi district

Kota Srinivas Poojary, Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP, on Thursday urged Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri to immediately address the shortage of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) for automobiles in Udupi district.

Kota Srinivas Poojary, Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP, on Thursday urged Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri to immediately address the shortage of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) for automobiles in Udupi district.

Meeting Mr. Puri along with Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, Uttara Kannada MP, in New Delhi, Mr. Poojary said poor autorickshaw drivers and other vehicle owners using CNG as fuel for their vehicles were forced to queue up in front of CNG bunks in the district because of short supply of the green fuel.

While there was demand for at least 21,000 kg CNG per day in the district, only about 8,000 kg was being made available to customers. The number of outlets dispensing CNG were just eight in the district, which has to be increased substantially, Mr. Poojary said.

Besides increasing the number of CNG dispensing outlets, the company authorised to supply CNG in the district, M/s Adani Total Gas Ltd., should be directed to augment the supply, the MP demanded.

A statement from Mr. Poojary’s office here said the Minister immediately responded to the demand and directed officials concerned to ensure proper CNG supply in the district.

The Hindu had on October 16 highlighted the plight of CNG consumers in the district in these columns, “Irregular CNG supply puts thousands of vehicle users in a fix in Udupi.” M/s Adani had blamed GAIL Gas Ltd. that supplies CNG to Udupi district from its mother stations in Mangaluru, for the short supply. GAIL Gas in turn had blamed M/s Adani for deploying very few vehicles to transport CNG.