LPG distributors come out with point by point clarification
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, January 05 2016: Reacting to the ongoing campaign of The Sangai Express on anomalies and irregularities regarding distribution of LPG refills to consumers, the All Manipur Indane Distributors Asso-ciation has come out with a point by point clarification.

A statement issued by the association said bandhs and blockades in the State have crippled the only Bottling Plant in the State, and 72 working days were lost between April 1, 2015 and Oct 31, 2015 at the bottling plant due to bandhs and blockades.

Supply from the bottling plant is very scarce compared to demand.

The monthly SPD or allotted load given to the distributors couldn't be fulfilled by the bottling plant every month.

There is no power supply to the Bottling Plant and the plant is solely relying on diesel generator.

When there is a breakdown of the diesel generator, mechanics from out- side the State were called upon and spare parts had to be brought from outside the State.

It is time consuming and during this period the Bottling plant will remain closed.

The Bottling plant is also facing internet connectivity issues.

In the past, when the BSNL line had failed, the plant faced inconvenience in generating Challans of the loaded trucks.

As a result, loaded trucks were stalled for days at the Bottling Plant and they couldn't make deliveries to the public.

The bottling plant has no facility of night loading and it has only three unloading points for bulk LPG carriers.

During normal operation the plant can unload approximately 12 trucks a day which can fill about 18 packed trucks of 306 refills each against the daily requirement of about 30 loads a day.

Till November 2015 the bulk quantity allocated to Sekmai BP is 2400 metric tonnes whereas the actual load required for the state is � more than 3600 metric tonnes.

In spite of this allotted quantity, bulk tankers could lift only 1800-2000 metric tonnes due to bandhs, blockades, convoy cancellation and other factors.

If there's a mishap in the State or in the neighbouring States, bulk tankers remained stranded for weeks en route to the State.

The system software i.e.Indsoft implemented for LPG distributors in many ways do not conform to the prevailing practices followed in the state.

In Manipur, provisions for house no, house name, and household division do not take place whereas as per the system all these data are man- datory.

As per the computerised system, only 90 days refill backlog can exists whereas the actual backlog could exceed more than 90 days during long spells of bandhs and blockades.

On the other hand, during a very short period many changes have been taking place like regularisation, DBTL and now Aadhar seeding.

These activities have inconvenienced many consumers, asserted the distributors.

Unlike other PDS items if the allocated load or the quota cannot be lifted due to any factor, the quota get lapsed and it is not recoverable in the subsequent months.

Thus, refill backlog for the consumers increases while the monthly quota get lapsed permanently.

In order to improve the state of LPG distribution in the region, there is need for collective efforts from the public, IOC and Government authorities.

"We need to reduce bandhs and blockades prevailing in the State.

Our Sekmai BP needs expansion and 8 bays for unloading", it asserted.

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