Diverting filled cylinders from the hills : Route to black market
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: September 21 2017 -

The question is just how regularly do LPG consumers in the hill districts receive their quota of subsidised cooking gas ?

This question is raised against the backdrop of the story published in The Sangai Express under the caption ‘Hill based LPG distributors diverting loads to Imphal ! ’.

Equally important, how can one believe that trucks loaded with LPG refills proceed to far off places like Pherzawl, Kasom Khullen, Tipaimukh, Tousem etc and return with empty cylinders the next day !

This however is what has been happening here giving more ground to believe that many of the hill based LPG distributors are diverting their loads to Imphal to be sold off in the black market at a premium.

This should explain why filled LPG cylinders are available in plenty in the black market at a rate while the same is not found in the godowns of the LPG distributors.

It is to tackle the acute crisis of cooking gas in the State that The Sangai Express launched a series of story under the caption, WANTED ! Cooking Gas, Not Laughing Gas sometime in the latter part of 2015 and carried on till the early part of 2016.

The campaign was a success in the sense that there was a marked improvement in the distribution of cooking gas.

It is under this same campaign that a new feature has been added on page 3 of this paper, giving the details of filled LPG despatched to each LPG distributor from September 1 this year.

The campaign will continue and one can get a fair idea of just how the filled cylinders are being distributed by totalling the stock report given in the daily newspapers with the number of filled cylinders despatched to each distributor.

Inputs towards this from the readers will be highly appreciated, for after all any campaign aimed at ensuring efficient supply of subsidised cooking gas to the people, do need the co-operation of all.

It is also disappointing to note that despite the fact the LPG consumers from the hills do not receive their full quota of subsidised cooking gas, no complaint has been forthcoming.

The hotline which The Sangai Express had opened during the campaign launched under the caption, WANTED : Cooking Gas Not Laughing Gas did not receive any complaint from the hill districts and it is this which leaves one wondering whether it is a case of indifference, apathy or a case of the hill people preferring fire wood to cooking gas.

Whatever the case, such a reality means that a good number of the hill based LPG distributors are making money on the sly at the cost of the consumers.

It is this which the consumers from the hill districts should take note of. The IOC may also study whether the hill based LPG distributors have the required godowns with all the safety measures intact.

Local clubs and associations from the hills may also inspect the safety measures of all the LPG godowns for after all this is about public safety.

Any mishap at one of the godowns will mean catastrophe for the local people and surely no one would want this.

Given the highly likely chances of LPG consumers in the hill districts being given the short shrift there is no reason why the godowns of the different LPG distributors in the hills should not be checked and studied.

LPG consumers of the hill districts certainly do need to get more vocal.