The recent murder of LPG cylinder agent Ajay Yadav has left around 10,000 customers in the lurch, as the agency has downed shutters after the incident.
The agency would resume operations after the post-death rituals of Yadav are over around April 25, triggering fears of a cooking gas crisis among consumers because of backlog. The other cylinder agencies, too, have been partially affected by Ajay's death. To register their protest, the LPG agency owners downed their shutters thrice in the past week, causing problems for customers.
Ajay's agency manager Rajesh Kumar said around 4,500 backlogs had been generated owing to the closure of the shop.
Expressing concern over the growing backlogs because of non-distribution of LPG cylinders, retired university professor Rekha Sinha said: "The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) should make alternative arrangements or else customers' problems would increase in the absence of LPG cylinder supply."
"The district administration should look into the problems of customers. A delay in delivery of cylinders would promote black marketeering," said Gyaneshwar Gautam, a social activist.
When The Telegraph asked the Indian Oil Corporation sales officer, Dilip Kumar, how they would deal with the problem, he said: "A solution would be provided within a day or two."
He said: "As a temporary measure, the cylinder distribution work would be carried out from the Chatauni police station premises among all bona fide customers."
The district administration, too, would take steps to address the problem. "We shall send a letter to the IOC asking it to link customers of the closed agency with some other agencies and increase cylinder supply to that agency accordingly so that people could get LPG cylinders without any hassle," East Champaran district supply officer Raj Kumar Prasad said.
Ajay had been shot by criminals on the night of April 8 and had been brought to Patna in a critical condition where he died in the course of treatment in a private hospital on April 14. Two persons have so far been arrested in the case.
