The ongoing Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) crisis in Nagpur has reached a critical stage. Gas agencies have officially frozen release of new domestic and commercial connections forthwith. Driven by a severe supply shortage that has seen daily allocations drop by nearly 50 per cent, distributors state they have no choice but to stop new enrollments until the backlog of existing orders is cleared, and further they are acting on instructions of fuel companies. Gas cylinder distributors describe the current situation as extremely fragile. With thousands of pending orders already on the books, agencies are struggling to fulfill basic refills for long-term consumers, let alone accommodate new connections.

 

“We are currently receiving less than half of our required daily supply from Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs),” shared a local distributor on condition of anonymity. “If we cannot provide a cylinder to a family that has been with us for ten years, how can we ethically take on a new connection holder? The rage among citizens is increasing daily, and we are on the front-line of their frustration.” Jaiprakash Tiwari, President Maharashtra LPG Dealers Association, echoed his sentiments regarding freezing of new connections, “OMCs have implemented this decision, when the energy crisis surfaced. Companies should provide new connections to the people who are genuinely in need, so that not every middle man suffer due to crisis. Citizens complain that the Government and authorities might say that we have adequate stock then why the ground reality is completely opposite.

 

This fuel crisis clearly portrays that the situation is worse, and if not, then why do consumers have to wait for nearly 40-50 days after they book a cylinder ?” The freeze has disproportionately affected those who have recently moved to the city, leaving them without a legal means to cook. “We migrated from another state just a month ago and were in the process of setting up our new home. At least established residents are getting cylinders after a long wait, but agencies are flatly refusing to give us a new connection. For us, this has been a real pandemic; we are forced to rely on expensive outside food or induction stoves we hadn’t budgeted for,” said a newly married couple at a local gas agency. According to the sources, before freezing new connections, every month approximately 1,500 people were applying for new connections in the city.

 

Due to ongoing situation in West Asia, which began in late February, gas agencies are denying new connections to users. Other citizens expressed similar distress over the lack of alternatives, “It feels like the system has completely collapsed. I’ve been trying to get a second connection for my aging parents so they don’t have to worry about refills, but the agencies say their hands are tied. We are being told to wait and watch, but you can’t tell a hungry family to wait for months to cook a meal,” said Animesh Patil, a local resident. With commercial supply plummeting from 1,200 cylinders daily to just about 120, and domestic waiting periods stretching up to 50 days, the citizens are now facing a major hurdle in the form of this energy crisis.

 

 

Earlier, the Government had requested the single cylinder connection consumers to switch to double connections to tide over delay. So those who availed the two cylinders are insulated partly, but many households, especially in rural area and from economically backward classes are in soup. The dual cylinder ensures that the cooking remains unaffected as normally one refill lasts for one-and-a-half month on an average.