From the beginning of this week, as the West Asia war intensified, leading to a shortage of domestic LPG across the country, Kolkata, too, has been in the grip of uncertainty with bookings declined and deliveries of cylinders uncertain.
My Kolkata takes a stock of the situation on the ground…
Netaji Nagar, Tollygunge
Chandrani Karmakar, a homemaker, said she called the Indane helpline to book a gas cylinder, but the call did not go through despite repeated attempts.
Another resident of the area, Sampa Ghosh, who runs a cloud kitchen and had to suspend her operations, managed to get through but was told that delivery would not be possible before March 16.
“I am still waiting for a confirmation message with the delivery date,” she said.
Poddo Pukur, Behala
Anusuya Chatterjee, a school teacher, who has an Indane LPG domestic connection, said she booked a cylinder through the company’s mobile application on March 9, but has not received any confirmation yet.
Maniktala
Debayud Basak, a 26-year-old IT professional, said he booked a Bharat Petroleum gas cylinder on Tuesday and received the delivery on Friday.
Alipore
Arundhuti Mukherjee, a New Road resident, said she booked an Indane cylinder on Wednesday and received a message confirming delivery within 10 days.
Birati
Jhuma Borai, a homemaker, approached the distributor’s office as she had not received a confirmation message from Indane even a week after booking.
The office told her they had not received any booking request due to a server problem and advised her to try again after 10pm on Friday.
Dumdum Cantonment
Rajib Das, a 22-year-old student, said he booked an Indian Oil gas cylinder through the mobile application on March 9. The cylinder was delivered on Friday, he said.
Park Circus
A resident said she has been unable to contact the distributor despite repeated attempts.
“I tried calling the operator several times in the last two to three days for gas booking, but the phone is not connecting. After a few rings, it gets disconnected,” she said.
People wait in line at a gas distribution centre at Entally Soumyajit Dey
Hela Battala, Baguiati
A resident said he tried booking an Indane gas cylinder on March 13, but received no confirmation.
“After calling the gas booking hotline, the system said the booking request was submitted and that I would receive a confirmation SMS shortly. It also generated a temporary registration number. But I have not received any message yet. My father went to the gas office on Friday and was told no booking request had been received,” he said.
Chowrasta, Behala
Shreya Dutta, a sales professional, said she booked an HP cylinder on February 27, which was delivered within a week.
“Since it is not possible to book another before 25 days, I haven’t tried yet. But the booking option on my GPay has disappeared,” she said.
She added that a van carrying gas cylinders had entered her locality in the morning, and the distributor assured residents that distribution was normal and bookings could be made again through the usual online methods after 25-27 days.
Sonarpur
Ashok Das, a factory worker, had also booked an Indane cylinder a couple of days back. However, he has not yet received a confirmation, he said.
Ashok Nagar, Tollygunge
Pritha Paul, a teacher, expressed concern because she has a family of six and a toddler who has just started having solid meals.
“We booked an Indane cylinder three weeks ago and it has still not arrived. I am wondering if I should go back to my mother-in-law’s place to reduce the burden at my house because six adults are dependent on one cylinder,” she said.
Dunlop
Sarbani Ganguly, a primary school teacher, said the crisis has triggered panic among residents in her locality. After she and her neighbours failed to connect to their distributor’s helpline numbers, they called the delivery man, who said supply might be possible after 25 days, but could not give any guarantee.
Ghoshpara, Howrah
Mahasweta Chakraborty, a 26-year-old teacher, said they have not faced issues booking an Indane cylinder. “The only thing is deliveries are delayed by four to five days, but we are getting confirmation messages,” she said.
Taldaha, Dwarhatta, Hooghly
Srijan Mukherjee, a 16-year-old student, said that his family is facing delays in receiving their gas cylinder. “We booked an Indane cylinder over 15 days ago and received confirmation, but it has not been delivered yet,” he said.
An Indane delivery man at Santragachi Shrestha Mukherjee
Kadamtala, Howrah
Ritam Banerjee, a digital marketeer, said gas supply in their area has been affected and deliveries are delayed.
“It took us two weeks to receive an HP cylinder. We had to call their helpline almost every day,” he said.
Santragachi, Howrah
Sampa Mukherjee, a homemaker, said gas cylinder delivery appears normal in their area. “I saw the Indane supplier van in my locality today and asked if bookings are normal. The serviceman said they haven’t received any directive to stop supply. The gas office is at Domjur,” she said.
Burul, South 24 Parganas
Research scholar Oudarjya Pramanik said residents are facing severe hardship because of persistent failures in the HP Gas automated booking system.
What should normally take minutes now requires hours or even days of repeated attempts to connect. “Many are being forced to visit the dealership in person, only to face an additional one-week delay in delivery,” he added.
Dhulagarh, Howrah
Manisha Manna, a student, said she managed to book a Bharat Gas cylinder but the delivery date remains uncertain.
“The distributor said we might have to wait for 25 days or more,” she said.
Konnagar, Hooghly
Graphic designer Satarupa Banerjee said there has been no gas cylinder delivery in her area since February 15.
“My father booked an Indane cylinder more than five days ago, but there has been no update yet,” she said.
Garia
Tamoha Majumder, an independent researcher, said she saw Indane gas cylinders being delivered to several houses in her locality on Friday morning, but the cylinder she booked a week ago has not arrived yet.
Paikpara
A resident said he booked an HP cylinder on Sunday and received a confirmation message, but there has been no information about the expected delivery date.
“Since then, I have been calling the distributor but an automated message says the number is temporarily out of service,” he said.
Madhyamgram, North 24 Parganas
Entrepreneur Krishna Sarkar said their locality is also feeling the brunt of the crisis. Though residents have placed orders for gas cylinders, they have neither received deliveries nor confirmation messages.