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ISLAMABAD: A strike by CNG station owners ignited violent protests by stranded commuters and paralysed life in and around Islamabad on Monday, the first working day of the new year.
The protests started early morning and continued till evening with intervals during which clashes between police and the protesters also took place.
Scores of vehicles, including a police van, were damaged. Besides, over a dozen people, majority of them policemen, were injured.
Anti-riot units and reserves were provided to Bhara Kahu, Shahzad Town, Industrial Area and Sihala police. However, the police did not bring out its armed personnel carriers (APCs) since two of its APCs were burnt during protests against gas shortage on Islamabad Expressway on December 23.
Groups of people, mostly students and officer-goers, started protests at Bhara Kahu, Faizabad and Rawat early in the morning against unavailability of passenger vehicles due to a strike by public transporters and CNG dealers. Soon, the gathering of people swelled who also protested the strike called by transporters.
As a result, Murree Road at Bhara Kahu, Islamabad Highway at Rawat, Expressway and I.J. Principal Road at Faizabad remained blocked.
The most disturbed spot was Bhara Kahu where the local residents, transporters and representatives of the CNG dealers also joined the protesters. Within an hour, the protesters spread from Athal Chowk to Satra Meel at Murree Road.
Besides burning tyres, the protesters also parked loaded trucks and put cement blocks and other obstacles on Murree Road to block it. When the police tried to push the protesters back, they pelted them with stones. During the melee, several private vehicles trapped on the road were damaged. Later, the city administration and police with the help of local elders persuaded the protesters, mostly teenagers, to disperse.
Law and order situation was also created at Faizabad after residents of Islamabad and Rawalpindi gathered there and started pelting passing vehicles with stones.
As a result, I.J. Principal Road and expressway were blocked and hundreds of vehicles stuck in long queues. The Industrial Area and Shahzad Town police reached the spot but faced retaliation from the mob. Responding to the police call, nine reserves were sent to help the police.
The hide-and-seek between the police and the protesters continued till late evening.
Small groups of people appeared on the expressway from Faizabad to Khana with intervals, but the police pushed them back to areas in Rawalpindi from where they had come.
Protesters also appeared in different parts of I.J. Principal Road and blocked it.
Similarly, commuters joined transporters and CNG workers and held a protest demonstration at Rawat.
RAWALPINDI: The first working day of the new year brought miseries to the employees of federal government, as they faced trouble in reaching their offices due to the road closures.
The busy Benazir Bhutto Road was dotted with yellow cabs as the public transport remained off the road. However, the road connecting the city with Islamabad was blocked at Faizabad.
“I paid Rs300 to a taxi from Shamsabad to reach my office at Pak Secretariat. It was my first working day of the new year and I will never forget the bitter experience,” Javed Rehman, a junior clerk at a federal ministry, told Dawn.
Similarly, the blockade of road near Pirwadhai compelled commuters to take Golra Mor route for reaching Islamabad in taxis. The road blockade near Rawal Chowk also aggravated the woes of commuters.
“I remained stranded at a bus stop near Rawal Chowk for two hours and then hired a taxi for Rs250 to reach Melody Market,” said Zahid Mashwani, a low cadre employee at a federal government department.
GUJAR KHAN: Transporters and CNG dealers also blocked the G.T. Road in Jhelum, Dina, Sohawa, Gujar Khan, Mandra and Rawat. The commuters faced difficulties due to the partial strike by transporters and closure of CNG stations.
However, the residents remained aloof from the protest saying closure of CNG stations had enabled the SNGPL to provide gas to their kitchens. They said transporters never provided them relief and continued charging fares at the rate of diesel and petrol.
TAXILA: Local residents, including traders and transporters, held protest demonstrations and blocked Rawalpindi-Peshawar section of G.T. Road against prolonged and unannounced electricity and gas loadshedding.The residents chanted slogans against the government for its failure to provide basic necessities of life to the citizens.
They threatened that if the government failed to address their problems within 24 hours, they would stage a sit-in outside the SNGPL offices.
Meanwhile, All Pakistan CNG Association chairman Ghiyas Paracha said public transport and commercial vehicles accounted for almost 45 per cent of their total sale and excluding this segment from the sale would significantly affect the business volume.
“After the decision of the apex court in 2006 to promote CNG in public transport, we invested heavily in establishing and upgrading the CNG stations,” he said while talking to Dawn. “Now in five years, the policy is being reversed.”
Meanwhile, the transporters also feel betrayed by the government. Traditionally marred with internal strives and divisions, all associations and unions of the transporters were united during the Monday strike.
The transporters of the twin cities decided to observe a wheel-jam strike against the government decision to ban CNG filling in all the public transport and commercial vehicles.
“First, the government stopped all diesel engine vehicles from coming to roads on the pretext of higher smoke emissions and now after five years the same authorities are saying that CNG is not fit for public transport,” said Malik Sultan Awan, the president of Twin Cities Transport Union.
He added that if there was any problem with the CNG fittings in public transport vehicles, those issuing fitness certificates to the buses and wagons after every six months should be held responsible.
