LAHORE - At a time when unavailability of CNG for three days in a week is forcing transporters to take vehicles off roads, the Punjab government has reached an agreement with the federal government to get recently imported buses fueled at specified stations during the gas holidays, TheNation has learnt. This facility will be exclusively available only for the buses of Lahore Transport Company and not for already plying vehicles of private sector transporters. The federal government has already agreed to provide CNG to the urban transport in Islamabad and Rawalpindi while the notification for the same facility in Lahorites likely to be issued in a couple of days, said an official of the Lahore Transport Company requesting not to be quoted. Gas will be supplied to the CNG buses in Lahore during Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to facilitate the daily commuters, added the LTC official. The Chinese companies Buco and Foton has recently started a joint operation in Lahore by entering 56 CNG-cylinder fitted buses at three major routes of the provincial metropolis. Other 55 buses of the same companies would arrive in the City by the end of the month while about 200 buses of Orbit (a Chinese company) are due to reach in Lahore in January, 2012. The official told this scriber that 200 buses of a local private company of Karachi would arrive in the City in March 2012. There is no use of the buses if they would remain stuck during the gas holidays as the filling stations of the province are observing there days in a week gas holidays on rotational basis. To address the problems, the Punjab government and the LTC had requested the SNGPL to ensure gas supply for the urban transport. But, according to him, the company had showed its reluctance to ensure the gas for the buses especially in winter season due to 'severe shortfall of gas in its system. Later, the provincial government started negotiations with the federal government in this regard and it was agreed between the governments that the gas would be supplied to the urban transport during the holidays and the steps have been taken in the vast interest of the public, the official added. The official of the Lahore Transport Company told this scriber that the LTC has given a list of the CNG stations to OGRA from where the buses would fill their cylinders during the gas holidays. These filling stations are situated on the routes of the buses, he added. Later, according to the official, the LTC would itself establish filling stations on non-profit basis at the bus depots. The LTC was already given permission of taking CNG for the 56 new buses those had started their operation in Lahore on Tuesday, the day of gas holiday in Lahore division, he added. It is also learnt that uninterrupted gas supply to the urban transport would be gradually ensued in Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranwala and other major cities of the province. Almost all the big cities of the province and especially Lahore are facing severe shortages of public transport. Thousands of daily commuters have to suffer due to the unavailability of buses while during a gas holiday, the public transport almost totally closed and it added insult to their injuries. They have to stay and wait about half an hour to one hour at every bus stop of the city to reach at their destinations. The rickshaw drivers and van owners start over charging from the commuters during the holidays.