Crowding at LPG stations adds to Bengaluru’s traffic woes

Bengaluru: Crowding outside LPG gas stations in the city is adding to the city’s traffic woes, as auto drivers struggle to operate for the third day in a row on Thursday.

The queues at some of the auto LPG stations extended up to a kilometre.

For the past three days, auto drivers and commuters have reported crowding at gas stations in multiple locations such as Uttarahalli, Dinnur, Mathikere, Rajajinagar, Yeshwantpur, and Guttahalli, among others. 

Auto drivers who were queuing to get LPG in Rajajinagar were livid after having to return empty-handed despite waiting for more than three hours.

“Drivers are desperate to get gas. So, when they heard that there was gas at a particular pump in Rajajinagar, people started crowding. They waited for hours only to be told there was no more gas left. It’s obvious they’re going to be angry after waiting in the sun for hours. But the crowd didn’t turn violent,” said D Rudramurthy, general secretary of the Auto Rickshaw Drivers’ Union (ARDU). 

To prevent such situations, in the north part of the city, the number of traffic police on the ground in areas such as Yeshwantpur, Rajajinagar and Peenya has been increased, said Jayaprakash, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic North). Similarly, efforts have also been made in SP Road, said Gopal M Byakod, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic South). 

Auto drivers also reported that more private gas stations remained shut on Thursday compared to the past two days.

“Compared to private players, the public sector ones have a stock of LPG. But currently. The whole market is being dominated by private players when it comes to LPG. They’re mostly dependent on import facilities. Since that is cut off, there is a crisis,” an industry insider working in the public sector told DH.

“In Uttarahalli, the gas station is located at a busy strip of the road, exactly at a point where many vehicles take U-turns. On Wednesday evening, a BMTC bus trying to take the turn got stuck because there was no space left on the other side, as autos queuing for gas had taken up more than half the road. Since the bus ended up blocking a major part of the road, it caused a severe traffic jam. I was stuck there for about 30-40 minutes,” said Nagalakshmi SP, a 43-year-old auto driver.

Commuters also reported similar traffic problems in parts of Koramangala, Madiwala, and Old Airport Road. 

“The gas station on Devegowda Road had such a long queue that it disrupted traffic movement. Because of the congestion, we were unable to exit our store,” said Bukhari, who runs an electronics store on the same street. 

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Cut-off box - CNG autos struggling  “CNG autos are also not performing too well as the CNG bunks are not operating properly. At many private bunks such as GAIL the drivers are going and getting their tanks filled only to later realise that it was mostly air. This is a major concern that is adding to the current chaos” said Tanveer Pasha president Ola Uber Drivers and Owners’ Association (OUDOA). Multiple associations across the city including ARDU and OUDOA have also called out the State government for not speaking up on the ongoing crisis.  

Cut-off box - More bookings for electric autos As a result of multiple auto drivers halting operations due to the dearth of LPG the number of autos on city roads has seen a dip. This has led to more bookings for electric autos.  “Usually I get a minimum break of at least 30 minutes between each booking. But since Tuesday the bookings have been non-stop. While on a regular basis I’d get 20 bookings per day now it’s almost doubled. There’s high demand” said Raghavendra S who shifted to an electric auto two years back. Manjunath Achari another electric auto driver also noted a similar trend since Tuesday evening.