People still have to queue up for long hours to get cylinder despite a directive, from the economic affairs ministry, which says only one cylinder per person will be issued a month. The directive, which was issued a week ago, was to reduce rush and long waiting hours at the Bhutan Oil Distributor in Motithang, Thimphu.
The economic affairs ministry says the directive is an interim measure to see consumption pattern in the capital.
Of the three distributors in the capital, it is the one in Motithang that sees the rush. There are four depots in the capital of which two are owned by Damchen and Druk Petroleum. The other two belongs to Bhutan Oil Distributor.
People queue up as early as 6 in the morning. A resident of Thimphu, Namgay said today was his second time and he still hasn’t been able to get a cylinder.
“Last time, we were told that a card will get one cylinder in 10 days but now we don’t even get that,” said Phub Dem, another resident in Thimphu. She said it is difficult to get even one cylinder in a month.
The number of cylinders, supplied to Thimphu for Bhutan Oil Distributor was increased to 500 from 300 cylinders a day, in August, this year. But, people continue to return home with empty cylinders.
The economic affairs minister, Norbu Wangchuk had earlier said they requested the Indian government to increase the monthly quota from the present 50,000 cylinders.
