Sikkim govt requests Petroleum Ministry to provide immediate relief

Gangtok, Sep 27 (UNI) The Sikkim government has requested the Union Petroleum Ministry for immediate intervention to resolve the ongoing LPG crisis in the state following disruption in the supply chain.

State Chief Secretary N D Chingapa called on Union Petroleum Secretary M S Srinivasan yesterday at New Delhi and apprised him of the acute shortage of LPG, petrol and diesel in the state and the hardships faced by the people in this regard as the roads were disrupted due to construction of a bridge.

He requested the petroleum secretary to arrange immediate supply of petroleum products from the Dhalligaon bottling plant at Bongaigaon in Assam by the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to the Bagaykhola bottling plant in Sikkim.

A bailey bridge had collapsed a month back and vehicles above eight tonnes were not being allowed to ply on the temporary bridge erected by the Army. This had caused a crisis in the supply of LPG in the state.

The chief secretary also requested the IOC to deploy more numbers of nine metric tonne capacity tankers instead of 13 metric tonne capacity.

As a long term measure, Mr Chingpa suggested that an additional IOC depot be set up at Jorethang and Singtam to overcome the chronic problem of storage and also to cater to the increasing demands.

The Union Petroleum Secretary responded positively and a meeting was convened today with IOC officials for taking remedial measures.

UNI