Ranchi: Food and civil supplies minister Irfan Ansari on Thursday said all pending backlogs of LPG cylinders in Jharkhand will be cleared within a week.After chairing a review meeting on the LPG crisis, Ansari told the media, “The gas supply situation across the state must be normalised within seven days, and all pending orders must be resolved. Strict action would be taken against any agencies found guilty of negligence in clearing the backlogs.”
The minister said Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Dhanbad are the districts with most number of pending LPG orders. “Ranchi has 84,516 backlogs. Similarly, Jamshedpur and Dhanbad have 55,118 and 49,313 backlogs. Likewise, other districts also have many backlogs. During the meeting, the in-charges of petroleum companies said that there is no scarcity of cylinders in the state. During the start of the conflict in West Asia, consumers resorted to panic booking and that resulted in increased backlog of LPG delivery. I have ordered them to clear the backlog and normalise the situation,” he said.He warned the LPG distributors with stern action if they were found delivering cylinders to consumers on roads.“Additionally, directives have been issued to take strict action against those involved in the black marketing of gas or in hoarding supplies unnecessarily. I also appeal to public not to panic and assure that timely doorstep delivery would be ensured for everyone,” he said.Ranchi district administration earlier on Saturday issued a directive to LPG distributors to ensure that no customer visits godowns and depots of LPG distributors to collect cylinders.