Imphal, August 31 2017: Drastic decline in the volume and frequency of LPG transportation to the State led to acute shortage of LPG as the Sekmai bottling plant could no longer issue sufficient number of LPG to distributors.
Apart from checking LPG sale at black markets, all the bullet tankers of IOC must be mobilised and sent for ferrying LPG in order to mitigate the existing situation of LPG shortage.
Notably, The Sangai Express carried out a sustained campaign on LPG shortage and distribution from October 2015 till the first quarter of 2016.As a result of the campaign, LPG distribution improved remarkably.
The improvement was largely due to enhanced and regular transportation of LPG to the State .
In the face of the sustained campaign, high ranking officials could not remain silent.
All the available machinery, transporters and manpower were pressed into service .
The State Government too could not stay passive.
The Government held a series of meetings with IOC officials and took up all possible measures so as to improve LPG distribution in the State .
However, the volume and frequency of LPG transportation to the State was quite low this year as compared to the previous year due to long spells of heavy rainfall, landslides, break down of bridges etc .
Nonetheless, IOC and the State Government needed to coordinate and put in serious efforts to ferry LPG to the optimum level when the weather condition was fine.
But they were lacking on this front .
Neither the State Government nor the IOC did anything to send disinterested or reluctant bullet tankers for ferrying LPG .
It has been several days that IOC and CAF&PD Department conducted a survey about LPG sale in the black market.
It’s already late for the authorities to put in serious efforts to ferry LPG to the optimum level .
Some consumers said that they saw some people taking away LPG refills by showing documents (not necessarily LPG connection documents) in the name of security forces and VIPs.
Such intrusion when genuine consumers are standing in long queues for hours is rather infuriating.
All the distributors need to check such intrusions, they said .
One official of an LPG distributor, on condition of anonymity, said that security forces and VIPs take LPG refills at intervals even though they are not consumers of the particular distributor but they don’t take refills every time LPG is distributed .
Another distributor said that security forces and VIPs take away 15-20 refills in a day out of 306 refills allocated .
Generally, around 10 refills are found leaked out of a consignment of every 306 refills.
As such, only around 276 to 281 refills can be distributed to consumers .
Regarding the existing backlog of three/four months, the distributor said that the backlog can be cleared only when refills are brought from Dimapur bottling plant without relying totally on Sekmai bottling plant.
Source: The Sangai Express
