CNG shortage hits Vijayawada, auto drivers face long queues

• TNN

• Published On Mar 17, 2026 at 11:47 AM IST

The auto driver also mentioned that many drivers are switching back to diesel vehicles as the waiting time at gas stations exceeds 1 hour.

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The city is facing an acute shortage of LPG and CNG in the aftermath of the ongoing war on Iran carried out by the USA and Israel, forcing three-wheeler CNG autos to wait in long queues at filling stations, with refuelling taking more than an hour. Nearly 15,000 autos—8,000 within the city and another 7,000 from neighbouring suburbs—depend on CNG daily.

To curb vehicular pollution from diesel autos, the state government earlier restricted diesel vehicles and permitted only CNG autos to operate in the city. Accordingly, 8,000 autos were sanctioned for Vijayawada, with another 4,000 from suburbs such as Ibrahimpatnam, Gannavaram, and others allowed to ply in the city.

“Staff at the gas filling stations are charging an additional ₹4 per kilogram from drivers while filling gas for autos. Although 1 kilogram of CNG costs ₹91, we are being charged ₹95 per kilogram,” said Rama Krishna, an auto driver from Ajith Singh Nagar.

Rama Krishna said that earlier auto drivers were able to refill gas at filling stations within 10 minutes. However, after the war crisis, it is taking approximately 45 minutes to refill gas in autos at filling stations across the city.

“When we ask the gas filling station staff, they cite dwindling gas supplies. As the waiting time is nearly 1 hour, our daily earnings are taking a dip. Also, we are forced to cut short the number of trips due to the limited availability of CNG for autos in the city,” said Ravi, another auto driver from the Krishnalanka area.

Ravi said he usually fills CNG for his auto at the gas filling station located in front of Rajiv Gandhi Park. “For the last 5 days, autos lined up at the Pandit Nehru Bus Station, nearly 0.5 kilometres from the filling station. It is taking us nearly 1 hour to refill gas in our autos,” Ravi added.

The auto driver also mentioned that many drivers are switching back to diesel vehicles as the waiting time at gas stations exceeds 1 hour.