ISLAMABAD - Hundreds of taxi drivers gathered at D-Chowk Islamabad under umbrella of the Taxi Drivers Welfare Association (TDWA) on Wednesday and staged a protest against the four-day-a-week CNG closure policy.
The taxi drivers who remained peaceful throughout the protest, termed the gas holidays as their ‘financial murder’ and demanded of the government to ensure uninterrupted provision of CNG to transporters, so that they may continue to earn for their families living. On the occasion, they also chanted slogans against the government’s apathy. Speaking on the occasion, they said that the government needed to make efforts to ensure the provision of CNG to taxi drivers throughout the week across the country. Strictly refraining themselves from leveling charges against any top officials of government or Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, the protesters urged the government to accept their demands and argued that commuters were also suffering a lot due to this gas closure. They were of the opinion that drivers were running their vehicles on petrol owing to CNG shortage while most of the 72,000 taxis operating in Rawalpindi and Islamabad run on CNG, and the loss caused due to the closure of CNG stations is unimaginable.