MYSORE: The district administration has announced the setting up of four Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) filling stations in Mysore in the wake of complaints of illegal diversion of subsidised cooking gas for use in vehicles.

Government permission for establishing the filling stations comes after months of persistent demand by vehicle owners, particularly autorickshaw drivers who have been affected by the soaring price of fuel.

City Police Commissioner Pravin Sood said that the first among the four LPG filling stations cleared for Mysore would come up at Saraswathipuram in two months. The rest will be set up at Siddharthanagar, Bannimantap and near Hotel Highway Circle in six months.

Although LPG is considered as a pollution-free alternative to fossil fuels such as petrol and diesel, its use in Mysore had been prohibited owing to the absence of gas filling stations.

But the increase in the price of petrol and diesel saw a large number of vehicle owners using the subsidised cooking gas to run their vehicles, leading to an acute scarcity of LPG for cooking purposes. The general public, who have to wait for weeks on end for their monthly quota of cooking gas, have accused gas agencies of supplying subsidised LPG cylinders to vehicle owners.

The 14-kg domestic LPG cylinder, which is purchased for Rs. 310, is available in the black market for a price ranging from Rs. 500 to Rs. 550 for vehicle owners.

According to automobile experts, a Maruti 800 car runs for about 300 km under ideal conditions with one 14-kg cylinder of subsidised cooking gas. "If the car owner uses petrol as fuel, he or she will have to shell out more than Rs. 1,000 to travel the same distance," a mechanic said.Public sector oil companies have scaled down the supply of LPG cylinders to gas agencies in view of the frequent increase in price of LPG. This has added to the problem of LPG cylinder scarcity.

Although agencies would accept fresh booking after 21 days, the actual delivery takes about 35 to 40 days, many consumers said. It remains to be seen whether the opening of LPG filling stations will prevent diversion of cooking gas for vehicles. For, the cooking gas available at the agencies is subsidised while the LPG sold at filling stations will be sold at commercial rates.

The cheaper cost of cooking gas has spawned a mafia in the city that transfers subsidised LPG from the 14-kg cylinders procured from gas agencies into smaller cylinders designed for vehicles.

There is fear that legalisation of LPG as fuel for vehicles may lead to an increase in diversion of subsidised cooking gas.

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