Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Nov 5: The LPG crisis in Kashmir valley may further deepen as its dealers have gone for two day strike beginning from tomorrow against lack of any proper policy regarding documents needed for re-validating the LPG connections.
The dealers will not issue any refills for next two days that may further deepen the LPG crisis in Kashmir where early winter due to snowfall on mountain peaks has increased the demand for the LPG.
Abdul Hamid Sofi, general secretary All Kashmir Distributors Association, said that there is no coordination between the State Government and Petroleum Ministry on documents required for revalidating LPG connections for subsidized refills.
“State Government asked us to issue refills on Ration cards, but oil companies direct us to issue refills only after the formalities are fulfilled under Know Your Customer (KYC) form,” said Sofi.
He said that it takes time to register a customer under KYC. “We have to collect information, verify it and then check it on online system for multiple connections of a consumer. After this process is complete, then dealers can provide a subsidized gas cylinder to a customer,” he said.
The dealers said that there is shortage of gas in Kashmir valley and consumers have to suffer. South Kashmir Gas dealers are concerned as they are linked with Jammu rail head for refills and they want to be connected with the Pampore HP plant to over come the crisis during winter.
“During winter months we face lot of hardships as once the Srinagar-Jammu highway gets closed our gas supplies get badly affected,” Showkat Ahmad, gas dealer from Anantnag said.
Not only this, the dealers also blamed police for unnecessary harassment. “Our one of the trucks loaded with LPG is in Police Station Qazigund, as the driver refused to give a refill to a police officer,” alleged Showkat.
The dealers also said that on the instructions of Oil companies they sell cylinders on non-subsidised rates, which official call as black marketing. “We are sandwiched between Government policies and Oil companies,” alleged Abdul Hamid.
The dealers demanded that the duration of revalidating the LPG connections should be increased by a couple of months. “Due to political uncertainty for over past two decades, people have lost the documents of LPG connections and it will take lot of time to clear lakhs of connections that are without documents,” said Hamid.
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