Gayaji: Residents of several rural areas around Gayaji are facing difficulties in obtaining cooking gas cylinders, despite booking them online. Villagers allege that even after receiving confirmation messages, cylinders are not being delivered to their homes as agency staff are not visiting villages for supply.
As a result, many people from villages located around 10 kilometres from the city are travelling to gas agency offices with empty cylinders in the hope of getting a refill. Those who fail to obtain a cylinder are forced to cook food on traditional wood-fired stoves in the intense summer heat.
A large number of consumers have been gathering every morning after 10 a.m. at the TNS Gas Agency located near Chandauti Mor on the Gayaji–Cherki main road. People arrive carrying empty cylinders and wait in long queues outside the agency office. While officials claim that there is no shortage of LPG cylinders in the district, the presence of long queues of rural consumers in the city suggests that supply issues persist at the ground level.
Dilip Kumar, a resident of Cherki Bagahi village about 10 kilometres from the city, said his household has run out of cooking gas. “I am a consumer of TNS Gas Agency. I booked the cylinder online and also received the message, but the cylinder has not been delivered yet. We are facing problems because there is no gas at home,” he said.
Rambrat Mistry, another consumer, said he travelled nearly 15 kilometres from Bajrahi Chapardah village to the agency by bicycle carrying an empty cylinder. “It has been about a month since I booked the cylinder, but the agency staff have not come to the village for delivery. Our gas has finished and the situation has become very difficult,” he said.
Akhilesh Kumar, who came from Kujapi village located about 10 kilometres away, said he had no option but to visit the agency in person. “I booked the cylinder on March 19. I received the message and OTP, but the cylinder has still not arrived. Agency staff are not coming to villages for delivery,” he said.
Some consumers also complained about making repeated trips between the agency office and the warehouse. Ajit Kumar and Roshan Kumar said they had been moving between the agency and the storage facility on their motorcycle with empty cylinders. According to them, agency staff say cylinders will be issued only after a receipt is generated, but the process has not been happening as promised, forcing people to keep returning without getting a refill.
