|
 With the official
inauguration of the maiden Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) filling centre in
Agartala Wednesday, Tripura is the first state in the entire eastern India
region using CNG as an alternative to fossil oil for running vehicles.
The first CNG filling station of the Tripura Natural Gas Company Ltd (TNGCL),
a division of the Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL), was inaugurated by
Chief Minister Sri Manik Sarkar this afternoon at A D Nagar.
According to an estimate in the first phase around 20,000 vehicles mainly
auto-rickshaws, small and medium vehicle and mini buses shall be converted
in CNG which is cheaper and at the same time environment friendly, said Dr. U D Choubey, chairman-cum-managing director of GAIL.
Choubey also informed that two more filling stations are very soon to be
opened at Radhanagar and Chandrapur, on the outskirts of Agartala.
At present the state has around 40 auto-rickshaws and seven small vehicles
running on CNG but by the next three years the number shall multiply by
several time.
Rafikul Mian an auto-rickshaw driver expressing satisfactory over the cost
effective new fuel said that the cost of CNG is though half to the price of
petrol, but the mileage is more, thus it shall be a boon for the drivers.
However, he expressed that there should be more expert hands for converting
the engines of the traditional vehicles to CNG run.
Chief Minister Sri Manik Sarkar expressed that the small CNG filling centre is a
new feather in the cap
 of Tripura.
He expressed that the new system shall not only help the state in earning
revenue by utilizing the available local natural resources but also help the
CNG-run vehicles owners and drivers to earn more.
Praising the activities of ONGCL and GAIL in Tripura, Sarkar also proposed
for setting up a chemical hub in Tripura for proper utilization of the
abundant reserve of natural gas.
The Industry Minister of Tripura, Sri Tapan Chakraborty and state Transport
Minister Manik Dey was also present in the function.
 Agartala will be the fourth city in India after New Delhi, Mumbai and
Lucknow to run CNG vehicles on a large scale.
TNGCL, which has been supplying piped natural gas to around 6,500 domestic
consumers in and around Agartala, besides 100 commercial establishments and
industrial units shall very soon double its domestic connectivity at
reasonable price, informed MD TNGC S C Hatwal.
A kilogram of CNG cost Rs.22.50 - a litre of petrol in Agartala costs
Rs.42.87 and diesel Rs.30.39. While one kg CNG ply’s an auto rickshaw 36.75
km, a car 22.05 km and a bus 4.09 km, on the contrary one litre of petrol
ply’s an auto rickshaw 25 km, a car 15 km and with one litre diesel ply’s a
bus only 3.5 km. |
