By IANS,
Islamabad : Hundreds of private vehicles Tuesday blocked an arterial road in Pakistan’s port city Karachi protesting an unofficial strike by around 300 owners of compressed natural gas (CNG) refilling stations.
The drivers of privately-owned transport like rickshaws and taxis stopped their vehicles on the M.A. Jinnah Road, thereby causing a massive traffic jam, Geo News reported.
Commuters, mostly on way to work, faced extreme difficulty in reaching their destinations.
On Tuesday, a majority of the gas stations were kept closed for the second day in protest against what their owners claimed was a “highly unreasonable” hike in retail price of CNG that was causing them massive financial losses.
There are around 300 CNG stations in Karachi, and 600 in Sindh province. Massive queues of vehicles were seen at a few gas stations in the port city that remained open.
Some said the “unofficial strike” was apparently for an indefinite period. No date has been announced as to when the gas stations will reopen.
CNG stations were also shut in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.