Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], April 9 : The Madhya Pradesh Food Department on Thursday carried out a raid at a warehouse of a Gas Agency in state capital Bhopal and found several domestic LPG cylinders containing less gas than the prescribed standard weight, with some reportedly short by up to 2.5 kilograms.
The action was carried out based on information received from the district supply officer of the department on Thursday morning. The warehouse of Saini Indian Gas Agency was raided, located at Malikhedi on Bhanpur Road in the city. During the checking, around 40 cylinders were found underweight, with some short by 1 kg, 2 kg, and even 2.5 kg.
Food department officer Safdar Khan told ANI, "Today, we received information that a loading vehicle carrying domestic LPG cylinders is reaching a Gas agency in the city and containing less gas than that of standard weight. Following which, we reached the concerned Gas agency and found the vehicle parked outside its warehouse. We called the operator of the Gas Agency and measured the quantity of cylinder, resulting in around 40 cylinders were found underweight with some short by 1 kg, 2 kg, and even 2.5 kg, beyond the permissible margin of 150 grams."
The food department officer also stressed that they checked all the cylinders from the loading vehicle, and out of around 340-342 cylinders checked, three were found without seals, despite being loaded directly from the refilling plant, and added that the matter is under investigation.
On the other hand, Gas agency owner Sunil Saini said, "This morning, the Food Officer called regarding cylinders found underweight. When I arrived at the agency, the Food Department was already present. The vehicle from the gas plant had been kept outside and not unloaded. It left the plant at 8 pm the previous night and reached here at 9 am, taking 13 hours to cover just 20 kilometres. Some cylinders were found underweight. If it would have unloaded then we were accused of providing less gas but it was already underweight."
The Gas Agency Owner further said that it needs to be highlighted that some nexus is working behind it. Only one vehicle is caught; there might be other vehicles as well. The food department noted that it was the first such incident to come to light, and they would comment on the matter further.
Meanwhile, Indian Oil Corporation Officer Shivani Bachhale emphasised that an investigation was underway to determine where the discrepancy occurred, adding that the cylinders were thoroughly checked before dispatch from the plant and underweight cylinders were not loaded.
"An investigation is underway about the shortcomings in cylinders. The cylinders from the plant are always checked 100 percent before loading, so underweight cylinders are never dispatched. That means the shortages must have happened after the vehicle left the plant. The matter will be revealed in the investigation. It is the first time such a large number of underweight cylinders had been found, since their own vehicles had never faced this issue before. I want to say that the refiling plant isn't involved in such activity though the matter is now under investigation, focusing on where the transporter's vehicle stopped or was parked after leaving the plant," the Indian Oil Corporation Officer said.
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