Panic grips Vijayawada residents as LPG gas shortage fears trigger long queues

Vijayawada: Panic gripped residents in Vijayawada as people formed long queues in front of LPG gas agencies amid fears of a shortage of domestic gas cylinders in the city. From early morning, consumers thronged several gas agencies carrying their empty cylinders, hoping to secure a refill. Many were seen waiting for hours outside the agencies as the rush of customers increased throughout the day.The situation was further complicated as the online servers at several gas agencies reportedly stopped functioning. With the digital system failing, agency staff were forced to issue manual booking slips to customers, slowing down the process and adding to the long waiting time. Anxious consumers waited for hours in serpentine queues, braving the sun to get their empty gas cylinders filled as fears over gas availability grew in the city. "I booked a gas cylinder about 1 week ago and, despite receiving a confirmation message, the cylinder was not delivered. Today, I came to check with the gas agency staff about the delay in delivery," said Ramana, who was seen waiting outside a gas agency office at Moghalarajpuram."We saw news reports about the gas shortage and people thronging gas agencies to refill their empty cylinders. Panicked by the situation, I came with my empty gas cylinder to get it refilled," said Annapurnamma, who was waiting in the same queue, adding that she never witnessed such a situation before.Meanwhile, chaos unfolded at a gas agency in Ajith Singh Nagar as large numbers of customers gathered outside the office, complaining that they received gas booking confirmation messages despite not booking any cylinders. Reportedly, the gas agency staff informed customers that they did not know how the confirmation messages were sent.