Bandipora, Jan 20: The LPG shortage, which has gripped this north Kashmir district for past one month, has now turned acute, locals said.
 The locals alleged that the LPG distributors in the district have failed to maintain regular supplies “as thousands of consumers in the district have not been able to get the gas for past ten to fifteen days.”
 There are three gas agencies namely Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) operating in the district.
 The consumers said with the gas agencies failing to cater to the demand for last 10 to 15 days the backlog in Bandipora, Sumbal and Hajin and other places has piled up.
 While the gas agencies are attributing the poor delivery to inadequate supplies from oil companies, consumers blame “illegal sale of cylinders.”
 The LPG distributors, on condition of anonymity, said they were getting supplies sufficient only to cater to half the demand.
 “The LPG area office has failed to coordinate with refineries to sort out the problem,” complained distributors.
  “We have 18000 registered connections in each town but are receiving 900 LPG cylinders a month” said a distributor.
 “Government should step in to clear the mess, otherwise the consumers are suffering at the hands of these distributors” said Muhammad Saleem a consumer.
 He added: “It is because of the indifferent on the part of the government that we have to wait for days and weeks together to get a cylinder.”
 No official of IOC, HP and Bharat Petroleum could be contacted.
 Assistant Director Consumer Affairs Public Distribution Department (CAPD), Ghulam Muhammad said: “There is little scarcity of gas due to the winter season, which is tolerable.”
 He said we have strictly directed the distributors to give one cylinder to each consumer.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 20 Jan 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 20 Jan 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 21 Jan 2011 00:00:00 IST