Due to the current COVID-19 situation, most of the industries in the neighbouring countries are temporarily shutdown which affected the supply of cylinders in the country. In response to Tashichhoeling Member of Parliament’s (MP) question on the shortage of non-subsidised LPG cylinder, the Economic Affairs Minister informed this to the House in the National Assembly today.
Tashichhoeling MP Dil Maya Rai shared her concern on the shortage of non-subsidized LPG cylinder faced by residents in Thimphu. She said while the government has encouraged residents in urban areas to use the non-subsidised LPG cylinders, shortage of cylinders remains to be one of the challenges people in Thimphu face today.
“It is very difficult to get non-subsidised gas these days. When the government urged the public to use non-subsidised gas, they talked as if it will be more than sufficient where people need not have to wait in the queue and have LPG cards. But in reality, it is very difficult to get a cylinder. People are often sent back saying it is out of stock. It’s not only my opinion, but you can also see it on social media as well,” she said.
To this, Economic Affairs Minister Loknath Sharma said the shortage is all due to the COVID-19 pandemic-forced closure of factories and transhipment protocols.
“LPG cylinders are imported from outside. We tried our best to provide cylinders but due to COVID-19, factories are closed and refilling cannot be done. Shipping it here has also been an issue when we have to change drivers and bring it here,” Lyonpo said.
Further, the minister said the supply of cylinders were hampered due to more usage of cylinders during the lockdown. Cylinders which usually sees 200 procurement in a day has doubled during the lockdown.
Residents also face a similar issue with subsidized cylinders as well.
With the shortage, the minister urged people to switch to electric and biogas cooking instead of depending on LPG.
Pema Seldon Tshering/Tshering Zam
