Imkong Walling
Dimapur | May 24
Contradictory arguments are doing the rounds regarding the current LPG shortage in the market in Dimapur, and the state in general. At one hand, consumers are blaming it on ‘black marketing’ while on the other, distributors are putting the responsibility on the down turn in LPG supply in the international market; and closer home – the recent fire that erupted at Numaligarh.
On Thursday, it was learned that a closed-door meeting took place at the Deputy Commissioner’s office to discuss the burning matter. The meeting had in attendance LPG distributors, IOC officials, Dimapur Municipal Council and representatives from the Naga Council Dimapur.
The meeting, besides deciding to write to the General Manager, IOC (NE) to request for an increase in bulk supply of LPG to Nagaland, also discussed the ever touchy topic of LPG ‘black marketing’; and the problem of ‘multiple cards’ issued for a single household.
Sources said that the Naga Council had conducted a fact-finding survey of LPG agencies in Dimapur on May 22 and 23 which was reportedly not taken in good light by the distributors. The argument of the distributors was that if the Naga Council or be it any other NGO are to conduct surveys, must be done with proper authorization from the government administrative set-up.
According to the sources, the survey detected certain anomalies in the system of distribution. Without going into the details of the findings, the sources said that the current shortage in bulk supply from the plants notwithstanding, LPG is available in the black market, selling at double its price which points to an ‘artificial scarcity’. A filled LPG cylinder at present is selling for anywhere between Rs. 800-1200.
The distributors disagree on the other hand. Their claim is that at no point supply meets demand to the last percent. Not all consumers book their quota on the same day; hence the supply follows a cyclic pattern wherein, demand is met based on the bookings made.
Rough estimates state that the five LPG distributors in town are said to be having not less than 9000 genuine refill-card holders each. One of the agencies alone is said to be catering to around 18, 000 consumers.
IOC officials when contacted attributed the present crisis to a number of factors, namely – decline in the volume of bulk LPG supply in the international market, the recent fire at Numaligarh that shut down the refinery, and local factor like ‘bandhs’ particularly in Karbi-Anglong.
Contrary to what is happening in the mainland, the downturn in supply in the international market did not have much impact in the north-east, it was learned. The main culprit was the fire at Numaligarh. For the time being, Nagaland is being supplied from Lakwa, Digboi and Duliajan, all in Assam.
Nagaland receives its bulk supply of LPG from Numaligarh Refinery. And since it had to be shut down after the fire for repairs, it badly affected the state. It is expected to become fully functional by the first week of June. There is a catch however. Supply may get affected as and when ‘bandhs’ occur, was what the explanation provided. As a result, the LPG Bottling Plant at 7th Mile in Dimapur is churning out less than the daily average of approximately 3000 cylinders. With a storage capacity of 99 metric tones, the daily bottling capacity of the plant has decreased by 10-15 percent following the fire in Numaligarh, it was learned.
