Varanasi: In view of the rationing of LPG cylinders due to global energy disruptions, the local administration and GAIL tightened their belts to increase the coverage of PNG connections in the district.They will launch a campaign under which PNG connections will be made available on a war-footing within the next one week for those in need. They claimed that there is no issue of any kind in the natural gas supply.District magistrate Satyendra Kumar said that the GAIL officials were asked to set up camps so that the small restaurants, hotels and homestays can all be converted to PNG connections. Now, heaps of applications for PNG connections are coming in and they will be provided in a week. As of now, about 67,000 PNG connections are active in Varanasi with a coverage of 25%.He said that rationing was not being done because there was any issue with the stock. The problem was that people started hoarding. People were given the option to get refills quickly and even those who did not need them were getting refills and storing them at home. That is why it was done so that there would be no hoarding.While a cooking gas shortage is witnessed in Varanasi amid war conditions in West Asia, Annapurna Rasoi will not be shut down. Kashi Annapurna Annakshetra Trust, operated by Annapurna Mandir, serves free prasad to 15,000 to 18,000 devotees daily. Kashi, where no one sleeps hungry, witnessed several problems due to the gas shortage these days. However, Mata Annapurna’s Annakshetra Rasoi continues to serve free prasad to devotees without interruption. The trust management claimed that despite the gas cylinder shortage these days, 16,500 devotees received prasad on the previous day. No cutbacks are being made in the food served at present, and everything is running smoothly for now.Many hotels and food outlets also started cooking food on chulhas. Long queues have been forming at agencies since morning. Rajeev Kumar of Kashi Gas Agency said that there is no dearth of domestic LPG supply to the registered customers. Only those people who are not registered customers want to get the supply anyhow. The supply of commercial LPG cylinders was restricted. Institutions such as hospitals and academic institutions were exempted from the restriction.
