LPG woes: Growing gap between demand and supply

DHENKANAL: Cooking gas remains a sore point here. The supply has been poor with the distribution companies failing to meet the growing demand in all the eight blocks of the district. Companies have opened distributing agencies in Dhenkanal town, Hindol Road, Bhuban and Kamakshyanagar.Civil Supplies office sources said 31,530 consumers are availing of cooking gas against the current demand for 60,000 connections. In the absence of local distributing centres, consumers can be seen carrying LPG cylinders on bike and cycles to their villages some 25-30 km from the town where three companies have camped. Rapid strides in industrialisation and business in the region have impacted demand for LPG cylinders both in domestic and commercial sector but the supply so far has been discouraging.Civil Supplies Officer Rajendra Dehury said he had sent a report to the higher authorities with a request for 12,000 new LPG connections.It is the rural consumers who are at the receiving end whenever there is a fluctuation in supply, owner of a distributing agency said.Even Sevashram schools use firewood for cooking. Out of the 38 schools in the district, 30 have no gas connection.  The mid-day meals at schools under Sarva Sikshya Abhijan are cooked with firewood which comes to around four quintals while the residential schools use about eight quintals in a month.