Green auto hits LPG roadblock

At present,department officials feel that converting all autos into the LPG mode within two months is a difficult proposition.

According to a senior department official,the hindrance to the plan is the lack of adequate LPG refill centres in the city. “We have nine refill centres in the city of which seven centres are operating at present. We have planned to set up six additional centres in the city of which three centres are now under construction. Until we set up adequate refill centres in the city we cannot convert all the 9000 autos to the green autos,” said the official.

Meanwhile,state transport secretary Sumantra Chowdhury said 500 green autos will hit the city’s roads in a week. “We are also trying to increase the LPG refill centres in the city but there is a crisis of LPG gas supply. We are negotiating with the suppliers to increase the supply as much as possible,” said Chowdhury.

However,the auto-operators of the city are miffed over the refueling operation in the city.

“We are facing several problems after getting converted to LPG. We are repaying our loans in installment and are hardly able to earn money. We are facing LPG crisis,” said Kishore Ghosh,general secretary,Calcutta Autorickshaw Operators’ Union.