CHENNAI: If you were alarmed by the scenes at petrol pumps over the last few days, spare a thought for auto drivers who depend on LPG. Apparently long lines, short supply and having to hunt for another fuel station are all in a day’s work for them, thanks mainly to the low number of pumps that stock LPG in Chennai. “We spend about an hour-and-a-half to fill gas. We cannot afford to skip gas stations as they are so few and far between,” Muniyandi, the driver of an LPG-run auto ranted. If an LPG-operated autorickshaw driver skips fuelling up at the gas station in Kilpauk, he has to travel all the way to Koyembedu, Royapettah or Vyasarpadi – roughly seven to eight kilometres. “If I run out of fuel in the middle of a trip I get fellow drivers to tow my vehicle to the gas station. We cannot fill gas in bottles,” said Selvaraj, an auto driver. According to sources, about 12, 000 autorickshaws in Chennai operate on LPG. Of the 24 gas stations supposed to stock LPG, only 14 actually dispense it, allege drivers.Manoharan, State deputy general secretary of Tamil Nadu Auto Workers Federation, urged authorities to open more gas stations in Chennai. “This is the most cost effective fuel available, but it has remained the hardest to find,” he said.
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