Crisis management committee formed in Ernakulam to look into cooking gas supply

A crisis management committee has been constituted in Ernakulam district to overcome the persisting crisis in the cooking gas distribution sector. The committee is chaired by District Collector G. Priyanka, with District Supply Officer S.R. Smitha serving as the convener.

The committee, which met at the Collector’s chamber at the civil station in Kakkanad to review issues in the cooking gas sector, informed that while the distribution of cylinders for domestic use had been going on smoothly, the supply of cylinders for commercial use had been restricted.

Cylinder booking will be permitted only through the application www.lpgtrackerkerala.in. Applicants must submit their requests by including consumer number, agency name, name of the establishment, and a brief description of the establishment. Applications that do not contain these details will be rejected, an official release said.

Out of the 3,296 applications received at the district control room for cylinder availability, 1,412 have been resolved. A total of 1,884 applications that did not record essential details such as consumer number are pending.

Priority in the distribution of commercial cylinders will be given to hospitals, old-age homes, orphanages, community kitchens, educational institutions, public sector institutions, and public crematoriums.

To prevent black marketing and hoarding of cooking gas cylinders, nine inspection squads have been deployed. The meeting also informed that steps to implement a PNG (piped natural gas) system as an alternative to LPG were being taken.