They were protesting against delay in supply of refills
TIRUPUR: The agony of thousands of LPG consumers in getting refills at the weaving twin towns of Somanur and Karumathampatty, near here, came to the fore as more than 150 consumers resorted to a road blockade on Thursday in protest against the inordinate delay in supply of refills.
The consumers who have been waiting near Power House in Somanur from as early as 5 a.m. to get a refill resorted to an agitation on the Karumathampatty-Somanur road following the non-arrival of the load. They withdrew the protest after the arrival of a lorry load of cylinders. Traffic was paralysed for a couple of hours due to the blockade.
Though nearly 10,000 consumers in Somanur, Karumathampatty and surroundings are getting refills from three agencies of nationalised oil companies, the town does not have a single depot to distribute the refills. The consumers complained that they had so far not received a refill at their doorstep. The agencies are situated at either Coimbatore or Tirupur and there are no depot or sub-office, the residents complained.
Door delivery
“We are not expecting door delivery of refills, but we expect supply on a fixed date. As there is no certainty of distribution of refills, we have to wait endlessly taking leave from the job and losing wages,” says Sundar of Somanur.
The protestors complained that the officials were not showing concern to their plight and there was no proper reply from the agencies regarding supply. “All we want is a sub-office or depot here to end the problem,” demands another consumer.
Housewives and the aged have been facing problems in taking empty cylinders to the point of delivery. “There is no guarantee of supply of refills to all those who have been waiting from early morning,” complaints another. He adds that an agency sends a lorry load once a week while another sends once in a fortnight.
When contacted, a distributor conceded that there was no sub-office and hoped that they would soon start supplying refills at doorsteps. He added that it had become possible to supply refill once in 30-35 days with the oil majors reducing off-take.
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