Taking cognisance of consumers’ complaints against Shiva Gas Agency about anomalies in home delivery of lPG cylinders, around 5,000 gas connections of this agency have been shifted to two other local gas agencies, said Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) deputy manager Dhirendra Kumar on Wednesday.
Due to Kanwar Mela which concluded on Monday, there was short supply of around 5,000 cylinders from Haridwar bottling plant to Dehradun, though steps have been taken to improve the supply of cylinders in the State, he added. Irked over short supply of cooking gas to the consumers by Shiva Gas Agency, Kedarpuram residents protested on Wednesday by blocking Doon University road and raising slogans against the agency. According to the protesters, they have to stand in a queue outside the agency from early morning to procure a cylinder, but return home empty-handed.
They alleged that this agency does not provide cylinders to the customers within a week of booking. The agency officials are involved in black marketing of lPG cylinders to the hotels or other commercial establishments. Earlier, they had met the district food and civil supply officer Shyam Arya about this issue, but he has not taken any steps against the agency so far.
Kumar said that Dehradun district was supplied around 1.05 lakh cylinders from Haridwar bottling plant in the month of June this year compared to around 1.04 lakh cylinders in June last year.
In July, last year, around 1.17 lakh cylinders were supplied to the district while around 1.18 cylinders were supplied in July this year. “Due to Kanwar Mela, Dehradun was short supplied of around 5,000 cylinders from the Haridwar bottling plant. To fill this gap, we have decided to supply cylinders to the district on Sunday,” he added.
According to him, taking cognisance of customers’ demand, around 5,000 gas connections of Shiva Gas Agency were shifted to two local agencies — Himani Gas Agency and Jaideep Gas Agency, Balawala. Steps are being taken to shift some additional gas connections of Shiva Gas Agency to Sahkarita Gas Agency, Rajpur Road.
While shifting the gas connections of Shiva agency to other agencies, the department officials have been directed to ensure that connections are shifted locally and connection holders are benefited from this, he added. The owners of all the gas agencies have been strictly directed to ensure that their consumers receive cooking gas within a week of booking, he added.