Kolkata, March 11 Long queues at cooking gas agency offices and at LPG dispensing centers for auto-rickshaws became a common sight in Kolkata and several other places in West Bengal on Wednesday.
Officials of the Petroleum Dealers' Association said that petrol and diesel availability was normal at all filling stations across the state.
With a panic reaction among domestic consumers raising demand for cooking gas after the price rise of LPG cylinders due to the war situation in West Asia, long queues were seen at gas agency offices in different parts of Kolkata and other cities, including Siliguri and Jalpaiguri.
Long queues of auto-rickshaws, most of which run on LPG in Kolkata, were seen outside dispensing centers with drivers complaining that they were having to wait for hours to get the fuel.
LPG dealers said they have instructions not to issue double-cylinder gas connections at this juncture, and deliveries are slow due to the crisis.
Piyush Kankaria, the head of the National Restaurant Association of India's Kolkata chapter, said that the supply of cooking gas to eateries across the city has been completely stopped from Wednesday.
Owners of roadside food joints in the business districts of Kolkata and Salt Lake claimed they were having to buy cooking gas cylinders at nearly double the retail price.
The Ministry of Petroleum has said that in light of current geopolitical disruptions to fuel supply and constraints on the supply of LPG, it has issued orders to oil refineries to increase LPG production.
The ministry has prioritized domestic LPG supply to households and introduced a 25-day inter-booking period to avoid hoarding or black marketing.