Complaints of LPG delays grow in city, administration denies shortage

Patna: Amid growing complaints from residents about delayed LPG deliveries and cylinders marked as delivered but not received, the Patna district administration has intensified monitoring and review meetings to prevent hoarding and illegal sale of cooking gas. However, the administration maintains that there is no shortage of LPG in the city.

DM Thiyagarajan S M said all distributors and companies were maintaining adequate supply, adding that consumers are not facing any difficulty in booking or receiving cylinders and should avoid panic booking.




However, residents report a different experience. On Boring Canal Road, a delivery person with a full cart was surrounded by citizens seeking information about the supply situation. “When will my cylinder finally be delivered?” a resident asked the delivery person, while another questioned, “Is there really a lack of supply at the godown?” to which the delivery person replied, “It is best to shift to a coal stove for the time being.”

The delivery person said he could provide cylinders only to designated addresses as per existing orders and added that deliveries are taking place at a staggered pace.

Several people also took to X to express frustration over cylinders marked as delivered that never arrived. “I booked my LPG refill on March 4, 2026. The order is still open, and 18002333555 isn’t working. The agency is very crowded. Please update the delivery status,” Abhishek Ranjan said. Another consumer, Vikas Kumar, said, “My Indane LPG booking from March 11 shows delivered in the app and subsidy is credited, but I have not received the cylinder.”

To monitor the situation, a district-level control room with a phone number and five hunting lines is operational in Patna. The administration said complaints and information are being recorded in a register to coordinate with gas companies for consumer assistance. Officials said enforcement squads, block supply officers and sub-divisional officers have been deployed in shifts to ensure action on consumer reports. The administration added that all sub-divisional officers have been directed to keep local control rooms active to maintain a transparent supply chain.

Despite these measures, the RJD women’s wing, Patna district and metropolitan units, along with Chhatra RJD, organised a protest march from the party’s state office to the Income-Tax Roundabout on Tuesday against the alleged shortage and price rise of domestic and commercial gas.

Party spokesperson Ejaz Ahmed said protesters marched while raising slogans against the “double engine” govt. He added that the public demanded answers from PM Narendra Modi on the LPG shortage and accused the state govt of supporting black marketing of cooking gas.

Kanti Singh, national president of the RJD’s women’s wing, said, “The policies of the Modi govt have forced women onto the streets, with current LPG prices crushing students, youth and women alike. Hostels are being vacated, and migrant workers are forced to return home. This govt is fundamentally anti-poor and anti-woman.”

Ranvijay Sahu, state general secretary, said the “PM used to talk about extracting gas from gutters, and he should now tell the public where that gas is.” He added that the govt remembers people only during elections, while in reality it has forced the poor and the youth to stand in long queues.