Chulha to induction: Households struggle amid booking chaos

Bhopal: A surge of panic-driven bookings caused Bhopal's LPG portal to stall, leaving households scrambling to manage daily cooking. The system became largely unresponsive as distributors struggled to cope with a backlog, prompting many residents to rely on alternative stoves while repeated attempts to place orders failed.For residents, the disruption turned daily routines into a challenge. "Booking became impossible for days as the portal kept showing errors," said Garima Tomar, an IT professional from Arera Colony. "After returning from office, cooking dinner without LPG was a real struggle. We tried using an induction stove temporarily, but frequent power cuts made it unreliable."Sonia Kaur, a school teacher from TT Nagar, said her household had to revert to a small chulha. "It takes longer and fills the kitchen with smoke. Switching to induction stoves suddenly isn't easy, especially with rising electricity costs."Anjali Rathore, a bank clerk from MP Nagar, said the biggest problem was uncertainty. "We kept trying to book the cylinder, but the portal kept showing errors. Without any clear information on when it would work again, we were left wondering how long it would take." "Portal got flooded with overdue and panic bookings far higher than normal traffic," said RK Gupta, a city-based LPG distributor. Another distributor, Deepak Sharma, said rumours about possible supply issues prompted many consumers to place bookings simultaneously, causing the system to crash. "Bills could not be generated during the downtime," he said.