DHARWAD: Pralhad Joshi, Dharwad North MP, has asked officials of oil companies to take steps to ensure regular supply of LPG domestic cylinders in Dharwad district by November 15.

He was addressing a meeting of senior officials of the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Indian Oil Corporation and distributors at the Deputy Commissioner's office here on Thursday.

The special meeting was organised in the wake of a number of complaints about irregular supply of domestic cylinders in the district in the last three months.

Mr. Joshi held a long discussion with officials about the reasons for the irregular supply and what steps the oil companies had taken to resolve the crisis.

Consumers' problems

He told the officials and the distributors to act responsibly and respond to the problems of consumers.

Mr. Joshi said there was a need to look into the reasons for the irregular supply in August and September.

Officials and distributors should hold discussions and take steps to ensure regular supply, he added. He asked them to clear the backlog within a fortnight and bring in a more effective mechanism to check misuse of domestic LPG cylinders for commercial use. Mr. Joshi directed the officials of the Department of Food and Civil Supplies and Regional Transport Office to conduct drives against misuse of domestic cylinders. Mr. Joshi asked the officials to deal with the offenders in a stringent manner and take legal action against them. Deputy Commissioner M.S. Srikar underscored the need for the officials to take steps to meet the demand for LPG cylinders.

Awareness campaign

He said there was a need to conduct an awareness campaign to make the public aware of the misuse of domestic LPG cylinders.

Assistant Regional Transport Officer Jayasimha told the meeting that in recent months officials had booked cases against 180 vehicles for using domestic LPG cylinders in their vehicles and cancelled their registration.

Officials of the oil companies Srinivasarao, K. Govind, M.S. Joshi, Selvaraj, Deputy Director of Department of Food and Civil Supplies Kallanagoudar, Assistant Director Annapurnamma, N.P. Bhat of District Consumer Forum and distributors of LPG cylinders were present at the meeting.

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