Rajkot DSO cracks down on LPG pilferage

RAJKOT, April 11: The Rajkot District Supplies Office is all set to orchestrate a crackdown on LPG dealers taking consumers for a ride th...

RAJKOT, April 11: The Rajkot District Supplies Office is all set to orchestrate a crackdown on LPG dealers taking consumers for a ride through various malpractices. According to sources, recent raids on LPG dealers 8212; mostly Indian Oil Corporation gas dealers 8212; yielded 157 cylinders that had been tampered with.

Enforcement officials said the malpractices were chiefly of two kinds. Miscreants could place a full cylinder alongside an empty one, break the seal of the first and connect the two with a pipe with nozzles at both ends. Since gas flows from a high pressure zone to a low pressure zone, pilferers could safely remove a couple of kgs of gas from several full cylinders and fill up an empty one, earning between Rs 500 and Rs 1000 per day.

Besides, said Enforcement officials, discrepancies were often detected between stock records and the actual number of cylinders in godowns, which implied that cylinders were being sold off without the necessary paperwork.

Mostly, said sources, domestic-use cylinders were sold off to commercial establishments. At times, cylinders were often found to have been supplied to villages t hat had no specified LPG users, they said.

Asked about the steps that would follow such discoveries, DSO officials said notices would be issued and the party heard. Subsequently, cylinders could be confiscated and fines credited to the government account.

While all that senior IOC officers would say to Express Newsline was that such malpractices occurred in the retailers8217; godowns, District Collector Pravin Trivedi was learnt to have asked them to investigate them.A district-level committee has also been formed 8212; with District Supply Officer Dinesh Modi as its secretary 8212; to coordinate with the Indian Oil Corporation and the Department of Weights and Measures to devise a long-term strategy to check the malpractices.