No CNG supply for over a month, NMC’s 70 Aapli buses grounded

Nagpur: Shortage of CNG has forced three Aapli Bus operators to stop running 70 standard buses for over a month now. This has not only put a large number of commuters to inconvenience but also causing financial loss to the civic body, said a senior official from Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s transport department.
The lone supplier of eco-friendly compressed natural gas (CNG) Rawmatt Industries Private Limited has not only stopped CNG supply to Aapli Buses from March, but also revised the fuel rate. On Tuesday, CNG was priced at Rs117 per kilogram in the city, which is much higher than the rates in other cities.
First Rawmatt discontinued CNG supply to Travel Time City Bus — one of the three Red bus operators — from March 31, followed by Hansa City Bus (April 7) and RK City Bus (April 8).
“This forced the operators to stop running the 70-odd CNG buses,” said the official.
On March 2, 2019, Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari had rolled out the first diesel-to-CNG converted standard bus in the NMC. The civic body had signed an agreement with Rawmatt Industries, according to which the latter had agreed to bear the expenditure of installing CNG kits costing Rs3.25 lakh each in diesel-run buses. The firm was supposed to recover the amount from the operators by charging Rs5 extra for every kilogram of CNG.
In 2019, when the NMC rolled out CNG buses, the cost of per kg of the eco-friendly fuel was Rs60. So far, the company has failed to convert all diesel-run buses into CNG and converted only 70. Crisis of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the international market has led to the short supply of CNG in the city, say sources.
The fuel supplier did not respond to the NMC’s several reminders and notices to streamline CNG supply. Against the schedule of 360-bus fleet, the NMC is operating only 320 on 110 routes.
As it is the responsibility of Aapli Bus operators to manage fuel to ensure smooth operations of the city bus service, the NMC is imposing a fine of Rs3,000 per day per bus on RK City, Travel Times and Hansa City Bus, the official said.
The official, however, said Rawmatt Industries has assured to resume the supply of CNG from Wednesday.
Due to the shortage of buses, passengers are being forced to travel in overcrowded vehicles.
Rohit Sahare, a resident of Kamptee, said the frequency of Aapli Bus on this route is unsatisfactory. “Besides, timing is another major problem,” was the general opinion of the bus commuters.