The City is hit by a shortage of LPG cylinders as several trucks carrying domestic gas cylinders from Mangalore have been stranded at Shiradi Ghat following heavy rain in the Malnad region.
Angry customers of Hindustan Petroleum (HP) called Deccan Herald on Monday and complained that they have not received gas cylinders for the last 10 days as there is no supply of cylinders in the City.
“As per the rule, we can book a refill only after 25 days of receiving a booking for fresh cylinder. We have been following the rules. The agencies supply the refill within four to five days but this time when we went to book a refill, they said there may be a delay as there are no stocks,” Rudrappa, an HP customer, said Rudrappa.
“When I approached the owner of the gas agency Akshay Enterprises, I was told that the consignment of cylinders has not reached Bangalore,” he said.
“There is no cylinder in my house for the last two days. We are office-going people and there are children at home, who have to be sent to school. We have no alternative fuel system at home,” he added.
Meanwhile, Krishna, HP customer care in-charge, when contacted, accepted that there is a problem in supply of filled LPG cylinders.
“Due to poor roads and heavy rain, our trucks are stranded at Shiradi Ghat. We are now trying to bring the consignment from Vijayawada. It may come after two or three days,” he said. He added that heavy rainfall in the region has paralysed the business.
Meanwhile, the customer cell of Akshay Enterprises confirmed that they are facing a lot of hardships as customers are not accepting their excuses. “Our orders are pending for the last 10 days and we haven’t receive around 3,000 cylinders from the petroleum company,” said the customer cell in-charge.
Mr R S Mani, manager of another HP gas agency — the NCD Enterprises — said, the police are asking the truck drivers to bring gas cylinders from another route but they are not ready because they would have to pay extra money for it. “The drivers are demanding compensation to drive their vehicles on the diverted route,” he said.