LPG bulk transporters point out difficulties
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, September 21 2017:
Reacting to a news report regarding presence of LPG bulk transporters' hand in LPG scarcity being endured by the people of the State, some LPG bulk transporters say that they encounter different problems in ferrying LPG to the State from different loading points .
They say that frequent bandhs, blockades, landslides and break down of bridges have been hampering LPG transportation .
Whereas the maximum number of POL/BPCL/LPG TTs moving in a loaded convoy is fixed at 100 per trip, time is often wasted while waiting for either loaded or empty convoy .
LPG production at the loading points is not adequate and there is no fixed waiting time for loading.
Many a time, TTs coming from Manipur have to wait for days, sometimes extending over 10 days to get themselves loaded .
Manipur is allotted 2200 MT of bulk LPG per month as its quota but the State's monthly quota for POL is unlimited, said the LPG bulk transporters .
Yet, the present strength of LPG tankers can transport up to 4000 MT per month subject to availability at loading points .
On the other hand, the operation of unloading at Sekmai bottling plant is very swift and there is no case of keeping back TTs at the Sekmai plant .
Again transporters must check their TTs for every trip as the road condition is very poor.
About 20-30 TTs remain idle due to maintenance and documentation every month out of 152 TTs available at Sekmai bottling plant, they said.