Too dear

Dumka, Sept. 30: A 14.5kg domestic LPG cylinder that costs around Rs 373 in the rest of the state, comes for Rs 1,000-1,500 in Dumka, thanks to a strange cocktail of monopoly, a thriving black market and administrative apathy.

Dumka’s only LPG distributor Raju Bhagat, the proprietor of Indane, caters to a population of 40,000. He is also facing allegations of glaring misconduct that range from a prolonged waiting period for a cylinder and highhandedness. As a result, black market — with the epicentre being the curiously named Sunshine gully — rules Dumka where procurement of domestic fuel is concerned.

“The local LPG distributor, Raju Bhagat, provides a refilled cylinder after more than two months of its last receipt. The reasons for this is best known to him,” homemaker Jyotsna Mandal said, adding she was forced to procure a refilled LPG cylinder at Rs 1,200 from the black market.

The prohibitive cost has hit domestic budgets hard. Consumer Devashish Kumar said he had had to pinch pennies where other essential commodities were concerned. “The skyrocketing cost has forced me to cut down on other basics,” he said.

In a bizarre comedy of errors, the administration’s role, meanwhile, is confined to deploying six district police personnel since the past 15 days in front of the LPG distributor’s office. Though sub-divisional officer (civil) Sanjay Kumar Singh said he would do his best to streamline the LPG supply system, he expressed his present helplessness to The Telegraph despite admitting to have found many instances of the distributor’s illegal conduct.

“The closure of the only LPG agency will only worsen the situation, particularly when important festivals are round the corner,” said Singh.

To add to the woes of bona fide consumers, the LPG distributor allegedly directed people to submit credentials or stopped supplying LPG gas without reason.

When contacted, LPG distributor Raju Bhagat attributed the crisis to insufficient supply from oil companies. On the verification drive, he claimed that a large number of “fake” consumers prompted him to take this step.

Alert consumers, however, have not been sitting idle. “We had approached the district consumer forum regarding irregular LPG cylinder supply by Kusum Gas Agency, the Indane LPG distributor.

The forum, about a year ago, declared its (the agency’s) modus operandi as arbitrary and illegal. It said the agency exploited consumers and directed it to ensure regular fuel supply to consumers,” Tin Bazar resident Raj Kumar said, adding the consumer body’s judgment hardly made a difference.