Shortage of auto LPG hits city

Mangalore, May 3: There were long queues of autorickshaws in front of petrol stations waiting to fill auto LPG in the city on Thursday.

At one petrol station in Balmatta, the queue of autorickshaws was very long in the morning. In the afternoon, there were six to eight autorickshaws in the queue.

Surekha, manager and dealer for HP station at Balmatta, informed that a tanker from Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) provided 12 tonnes (21,000 l) of auto LPG every evening. She said that on Tuesday, the bunk did not get any supply. There are three points in the city that supply auto LPG; in Balmatta, Capitanio, and near SCS Hospital.

Muhammad, who was in the queue at Balmatta, said that for the last three days, he had been struggling for auto LPG. “If it goes empty, we can't earn that day,” he said. Mohammad Irfan said that auto LPG was not being provided from MRPL.

Satish N. Kamath, Member, Executive Committee of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi Petroleum Dealers' Association, said: “There was some panic for the last three or four days when pumps went dry, but things were fine now.” He said the long queues were a result of a backlog, because of the shutdown of MRPL. “By the weekend, everything should be normal,” he said.