PONDA: Around 17,000 LPG consumers serviced by the Goa Marketing Federation gas agency in Ponda are experiencing significant hardships due to a shortage of refilled gas cylinders. Despite a daily demand of approximately 1,000 cylinders, only 50 cylinders have been supplied per day, over the past week. However, Friday saw a slight improvement with around 500 cylinders supplied at the agency’s office.
The scarcity of refilled cylinders has prompted consumers to call for the intervention of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to alleviate their difficulties and ensure a regular supply of gas cylinders. Many residents are frustrated as they have already made payments for their gas but continue to face delays in receiving their cylinders. Even those who have booked cylinders online are forced to wait in long queues at the Ponda agency office, contrary to messages suggesting home delivery. Dinesh Naik, a consumer who was waiting in line to secure a cylinder from the agency, told O Heraldo that the door-to-door gas distribution system has collapsed, and they are being subjected to hardships for no fault of theirs. Despite assurances from agency officials to resolve the issue within two days, residents remain sceptical and demand immediate action from the Chief Minister.
Additionally, social workers in Ponda have echoed these calls for the Chief Minister’s intervention to address the ongoing supply issues and ensure a smooth distribution process for gas cylinders.
Meanwhile, sources within the gas agency have revealed that Bharat Petroleum Company directed them to supply cylinders only after online registration, which was made mandatory in January this year. However, the agency failed to comply with these instructions, and continued supplying cylinders to their consumers, without updating these orders online, leading to a backlog of data that was not fed into the online system. As a result, the company halted the supply of cylinders to the agency, which now faces a shortage of refilled cylinders. “Supply should go back to normal within two days,” assured an official from the agency.
