Nine EB teams fan out across city to recce LPG delivery route from distribution units to home

Kolkata: At least nine enforcement branch officials of Kolkata Police visited 25 gas distribution centres in Kolkata all through Friday in an effort to ensure that last mile delivery — from the distribution centre to homes — is not disrupted under any circumstances. The cops spoke to customers too, but more importantly checked the stocks and compared the same with the distribution slips.In Kolkata, cops found several alleged "mismatches" at a Lake Gardens distribution centre between stocks and the actual gas cylinders distributed on Thursday, leading them to seek explanation. Similarly, raids by Bengal Police were organized in the rest of the state. A raid at a Badu gas distribution centre near Madhyamgram by Barasat police yielded major mismatches. The police have asked distributors to check with customers if the cylinders have reached them after the delivery agents set out from the distribution centres. These report will have to be shared with cops along with stock details, said an officer. A coordination meeting was organized by Airport PS and Rajarhat PS with the LPG distributors and warehouse owners under their jurisdiction. They were instructed to ensure the security measures of their respective units and were cautioned against any irregularities.To address the crisis, an SOP was earlier issued by Nabanna on Thursday. A control room has been opened. The state EB officials said they are examining how many cylinders are in stock, the supply levels, and how customers are booking gas. They are also probing if there is any black market activity. Dealers claimed there were no discrepancies and that gas is stored according to regulations.In Hooghly, the SDO, along with special branch police, is overseeing the inspection of gas supply and distribution. They have conducted operations at warehouses in Chinsurah, Bandel, and Dunlop.Gas suppliers in the city told cops that people are booking cylinders out of panic, but supply hasn't increased. This is causing problems. Shankar Prasad Naskar, a gas supplier in Jodhpur Park, said, "Earlier, we had 400-500 bookings, now it's over a thousand. We used to get 525 cylinders, and that's still the case."The Bengal govt has formed an oversight committee led by chief secretary Nandini Chakraborty as part of the SOP. The panel will monitor the stock of CNG, diesel, petrol, and kerosene. Companies like Indian Oil, HPCL, and BPCL have been asked to ensure cooking gas supply in emergency services. They are to ensure LPG availability in urban and rural homes, hospitals, health centres, Anganwadi centres, schools, colleges, govt hostels, and homes. LPG firms were instructed to prioritize customers using a single cylinder for supply.