LAHORE, Feb 25: The All Pakistan CNG Association on Monday criticised the government policy of barring filling stations from using diesel generators to run business during electricity loadshedding.

Association president Ghiyas Paracha demanded immediate reversal of the decision which was only adding to the miseries of the masses who were already stressed due to the gas loadshedding schedule and unjust distribution of hydrocarbon resources.

“The policy of discouraging CNG owners from running their business during outages is not according to the ground realities as no area in Pakistan is immune to power loadshedding which leaves many without CNG during operational days,” he said.Paracha said one of the worst power breakdowns that left over half of the country in darkness and stopped production in most of the country also took toll on the CNG business.

He said around 800 CNG outlets out of 1,200 in Region-I (Faisalabad, Bahawalpur and Potohar) remained closed due to the failure of the power network. The closure of these stations resulted in an additional burden on operational CNG stations resulting in longer queues of vehicles.

A country having the largest user base of CNG in the world, with the highest number of CNG stations and almost two-thirds of all cars and small commercial vehicles using this fuel deserved a better treatment, he said.

Paracha said the people faced problems in getting their vehicles filled with economical fuel as CNG stations had been barred by the government from using diesel generators during loadshedding.

He said most of the policies for the CNG sector framed by the politicians and bureaucracy who remained unconcerned with the plight of the masses had negative implications.