Mumbai’s CNG gridlock: Pipeline damage, long queues, delayed school buses

 

Monday in Mumbai saw serpentine queues at the city’s CNG outlets, following the news of severe disruption in the city’s compressed natural gas (CNG) supply.

Ground reports indicate that autorickshaws, taxis, buses, and aggregators like Ola and Uber found themselves idling at fuel stations.

According to ​Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL), a “third-party” mishap at the Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) plant in Chembur led to a citywide drop in gas pressure. Critical GAIL pipelines that feed the network and City Gate Station in Wadala run through the Chembur plant.

This also led many CNG pumps across Mumbai, Thane, and Navi Mumbai to close or function at limited capacity, leaving autorickshaws, school buses, and cabs stranded.​

MGL, scrambling to restore order, prioritised residential piped gas supply—meaning household kitchens stayed lit, but transport operations ran into cold comfort.

Industrial and commercial users were advised to temporarily switch over to alternative fuels till the pipeline damage could be fixed, though MGL did not offer a firm restoration timeline.​

This led to a bottleneck in Mumbai’s vast commuter ecosystem: thousands of autos and taxis rushed to the few functioning pumps, sparking long queues. In some areas, school bus operators sounded the alarm, warning parents that short supplies had forced them to merge routes and potentially delay pickups.

MGL officials promised that work was “ongoing on a war footing”, but repair crews faced a tough race against the clock as supply restoration remained elusive through the morning.​

Business