Noida: Long queues continued outside LPG gas agencies across the city on Monday, prompting the district administration to deploy magistrates to oversee cylinder distribution and manage crowds.Officials said 14 magistrates have been assigned to monitor operations at 62 gas agencies across the district. Each magistrate has been tasked with inspecting four to five agencies to ensure orderly distribution and prevent irregularities. A senior district official said the move was ordered by the district magistrate to streamline supply and maintain order at gas agencies.“Magistrates have been deputed at major gas agencies to supervise the distribution process,” the official said. “They are ensuring that booked cylinders are delivered properly and that crowd management is maintained.”Despite the measures, residents reported long waits outside several agencies. Outside a gas agency in Sector 5, dozens of people were seen standing in queues, some of them since the previous evening.“I booked a cylinder on March 13 but still haven’t received it,” said Naresh, a daily-wage worker from Sector 8. “My family ran out of gas, so I have been standing in the queue for almost 24 hours.”A woman waiting at the same agency said she had taken leave from work to secure a cylinder. “I work at a factory in Sector 4. There is no gas at home, so I took leave today and have been standing here for hours hoping to get one,” she said. Meanwhile, the Ghaziabad administration has stepped up action against alleged hoarding and black marketing of LPG cylinders. During a raid in Modinagar, officials from the supply department seized 14 domestic LPG cylinders from a shop in Nahal village. District supply officer Amit Tiwari said the cylinders were being stored illegally and were suspected to be intended for sale at inflated prices. “Of the 14 cylinders recovered, eight were partially filled,” he said.An FIR has been registered at Bhojpur police station under the Essential Commodities Act against the shop owner for illegal storage of domestic gas cylinders. Officials said this was the second such case reported in Ghaziabad in the past three days, prompting authorities to intensify inspections to curb hoarding and black marketing.
