Residents of Greater Kailash I up in arms against new CNG facility in vicinity: ‘Will worsen traffic’

For several years now, residents said the petrol pump has been a point of contention as it has caused increased traffic. With a CNG facility coming up, they said it would lead to congestion at the entry point affecting residents or visitors to Blocks A, B, L, M, N, S, W.

“How will we enter our homes?” asked Vinod Karwa, 67, who has been living in N Block since 1998. The block has 258 plots and once the CNG facility is functional, it would affect approximately 800 families living in the area, he said. “Without assessing the feasibility of the location and the route congestion, how can this be set up, that too in a residential colony?”

On July 21, more than 100 residents held a peaceful demonstration at the petrol pump.

Raja Puri, RWA President, N Block said, “To support our cause, the New Delhi MP (Bansuri Swaraj), our constituency MLA (Saurabh Bharadwaj) and area councillor (Shikha Roy) wrote to the authorities in the BPCL. But, no response has been received yet. A delegation also went to meet higher-ups in BPCL at its Mumbai headquarters.”

There is already a CNG facility in the vicinity, 400 metres away, so the decision to set up the new one is unclear, alleged Puri.

Karwa said he was part of the delegation that met Sunil Kumar Bains, the BPCL officer in charge in the North for CNG Network Expansion, around 15 days ago. “He assured us a survey would be conducted to assess the location. But, nothing has been done and work on installing the CNG gas banks is happening,” he claimed.

When contacted, Bains, the Chief General Manager of the CNG Network Expansion (Retail), declined to comment. The BPCL did not respond to queries posed by The Indian Express via call or e-mail.

New Delhi MP Swaraj put forward an appeal in a letter to Bains on July 21. “The addition of a CNG station could exacerbate traffic issues, affecting local traffic flow and accessibility to nearby essential services, including a children’s park, Helvetia Hospital and Shri Ram School,” she wrote.

Bharadwaj, in a letter dated July 18, wrote to Bains, “To give relief to the residents of my constituency, you are directed to immediately stop construction of the CNG facility at the Navyug Petrol Pump and look for other alternate location immediately, in consultation with the N-Block Welfare Association.”

Earlier on July 9, Roy, the Greater Kailash councillor, had asked BPCL officials to “get the CNG facility cancelled”.

When contacted, the area traffic inspector (Sangam Vihar, South District) said there was no NOC from the Traffic Police department for the construction of the CNG facility. “If we get a request, we will assess and examine the location,” the inspector said.

Varun Garg, General Secretary RWA GK-1, N Block, reiterated that the traffic situation will only increase if the facility comes up.

“Usually, people stop their vehicles to buy items from tehbazari shops in front of the petrol pump; and given the landmarks near it, there is almost always heavy traffic. If the CNG facility comes up, the traffic problems will increase. This is why we have presented our concerns for immediate relief,” he said.