Namakkal/Salem: Hotel owners in Namakkal on Thursday submitted a petition to collector Durga Moorthy urging her to take steps on war-footing to alleviate the shortage of commercial LPG cylinders in the district. A team, led by president of Namakkal district hotel owners’ association Ramkumar and secretary Arul Murugan, submitted the petition to the collector. More than 500 restaurants are operating in Namakkal district.“Gas agencies are demanding up to Rs 2,000 more per cylinder,” Ramkumar said, warning that if the situation continued, hotels would be closed in three days. The LPG crunch would affect the supply of essential goods brought by traders, including vegetables. Meanwhile, petrol bunks in Salem region witnessed long queues with motorists rushing to fill up their tanks. It is to be noted that the Salem region, comprising Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Namakkal and Salem district, is home to more than 1,200 petrol pumps being operated by Hindustan Petroleum, Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation. Pointing out that 210 bunks were functioning in Namakkal district, a reliable source said fuel was transported to those petrol stations in tanker trucks from the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited storage point in Dharmapuri, Indian Oil Corporation storage point at Sankari in Salem and the Bharat Petroleum Corporation storage point in Karur.Oil companies said there has been no shortage of fuel so far. “With more than 30% of the people in Salem region using electric scooters and electric cars, the remaining 70% of the motorists could operate their vehicles without the fear of fuel shortage,” said an official attached to the Indian Oil Corporation.
