IOC says shortage of cylinders to last for few days
Chennai   12-Nov-2010

 IndianOil on Thursday announced that it would take at least a few days to supply LPG cylinders to households because of "certain unavoidable operational and logistical constraints" mainly due to the heavy damage caused by cyclone Jal to roads leading to the LPG bottling plants.

The announcement has left consumers fuming. D Kavitha, a housewife in Chetpet, said she had booked for an Indane cylinder refill two days ago. "They promised to deliver it in 10 days. But now I am not sure how long it will take," she said.

Many other housewives complained that even on normal days the distribution of LPG cylinder takes place at a snail's pace and any further hold up will only worsen the situation in their kitchens.

"LPG cylinders are delivered by private companies only 10 days after booking. The Triplicane Urban Cooperative Society takes at least 15 days to deliver cylinders," said of Kalaivani of Anna Nagar A Block ladies association.

The usual complaint by consumers is that staff in gas agencies rarely take their calls and even if they do, they only make an empty promise of delivering the cylinder at the earliest. "The delay mainly affects the low income group. Many of them have discarded their stoves after they got gas connection," said Uma Maheshwari, a housewive residing in Mylapore.

Probably fed up with the ordeal of waiting for gas cylinder, Sangeetha Srinivasan, secretary of the Indira Nagar Women's Association, said she would rather switch over to electrical cooking equipment. "Nowadays most people have two LPG gas connections. But we can't keep waiting for the cylinder. I would rather use a hot plate and a rice-cooker," she said.

Meanwhile, Indane officials, in a press release, have assured consumers that adequate stocks of LPG cylinders were available at their plants. "We are taking all necessary steps to restore normalcy as quick as possible," said the release.

The release further said that to overcome the current situation, the refill supplies would be effected based on availability of filled cylinders with distributors, past consumption pattern of the consumers and seniority of customer booking. "All necessary actions are now being taken to position adequate supplies with the distributors," the release said.