There seems to be some concerns regarding the piped gas supply off late.
~Some residents I spoke to last evening said their supply has been stopped or will be stopped shortly.
~ In a recent post on our Facebook page, our neighbour Crystal Zachariah(F-Block) writes : " Spoke with the piped gas supplier Mr. Aasis and was told that there is a huge supply issue. as indicated today Aasis said he has been informing propcare NOT to take any new connections as he is forced to pay Rs. 1700 for each refill for the 10-15 cylinders used daily and in return propcare is only Billing for Rs. 400 to residents. to date Aasis has Rs,1,35,000 of loss do to unpaid bills. He said unless residents come forward to help pay, he would not be able to continue services. Prop care said that they have informed residents but only 15 residents have come forward to pay the extra cost..."
My question: Why is Aasis paying 1700 bucks for each cylinder when market price is around 400/-?? Apparently, he is buying the cylinders in black market.
~I heard from neighbours that losses are being incurred due to leakages in the pipelines. Certain blocks (Like A) is smelling of gas leakage in the basement area. It is quite natural that nobody will be ready to pay for these leakages. Some residents are even said to have received gas bills for the period when they were on vacation and gas wasn't used.
Clearly it is an infrastructural defect. The consumers are certainly not liable to pay for the leakages.
As I gathered from the newspaper reports, there had been a gas-supply crisis. Around that time, our vendor had put up a notice also in the lift-bays that supply may be erratic. However, that strike has been called off days back and now supply is normal. So why is Aasis claiming that he is not getting supply??
In case our vendor is getting all the cylinders in black market, it happens to be illegal and that's bound to attract local administration's notice sooner or later. Getting a single cylinder in an emergency for a higher price is different, however you just cannot run an apartment complex on black-marketed gas cylinders! If that is true, then we are patronizing this unknowingly.
The entire scenario seems very confusing. If anybody is aware of the real picture, kindly throw some light on it. Cooking gas being a very essential commodity, we need to sort out the issues asap.
~Some residents I spoke to last evening said their supply has been stopped or will be stopped shortly.
~ In a recent post on our Facebook page, our neighbour Crystal Zachariah(F-Block) writes : " Spoke with the piped gas supplier Mr. Aasis and was told that there is a huge supply issue. as indicated today Aasis said he has been informing propcare NOT to take any new connections as he is forced to pay Rs. 1700 for each refill for the 10-15 cylinders used daily and in return propcare is only Billing for Rs. 400 to residents. to date Aasis has Rs,1,35,000 of loss do to unpaid bills. He said unless residents come forward to help pay, he would not be able to continue services. Prop care said that they have informed residents but only 15 residents have come forward to pay the extra cost..."
My question: Why is Aasis paying 1700 bucks for each cylinder when market price is around 400/-?? Apparently, he is buying the cylinders in black market.
~I heard from neighbours that losses are being incurred due to leakages in the pipelines. Certain blocks (Like A) is smelling of gas leakage in the basement area. It is quite natural that nobody will be ready to pay for these leakages. Some residents are even said to have received gas bills for the period when they were on vacation and gas wasn't used.
Clearly it is an infrastructural defect. The consumers are certainly not liable to pay for the leakages.
As I gathered from the newspaper reports, there had been a gas-supply crisis. Around that time, our vendor had put up a notice also in the lift-bays that supply may be erratic. However, that strike has been called off days back and now supply is normal. So why is Aasis claiming that he is not getting supply??
In case our vendor is getting all the cylinders in black market, it happens to be illegal and that's bound to attract local administration's notice sooner or later. Getting a single cylinder in an emergency for a higher price is different, however you just cannot run an apartment complex on black-marketed gas cylinders! If that is true, then we are patronizing this unknowingly.
The entire scenario seems very confusing. If anybody is aware of the real picture, kindly throw some light on it. Cooking gas being a very essential commodity, we need to sort out the issues asap.
Both propcare and NMC are at fault. I hope this is not one of the tactics that propcare (with or without NMC's assistance) is playing to divert us from the real issue of contract renewal.
ReplyDeleteMadhumita raises issues pertaining to pipeline leakage, black-market rate for cylinders; and their supply to residents
ReplyDeleteLeakage is a safety issue, arising, partly because of rush-job they have been doing in giving last-mile gas connectivity to individual apartments. Gas-pipe needs to be checked for leakage at the joints (notably,three) in the pipe line leading to the kitchen stove. systematic line-check for leakage by a designated crew is an exercise our friend Aasis appears to have skipped.
Incidentally,Gas Ramu who is familiar with this drill, though he is not a proper leakage checker,is down with chicken-pox. It would take another 10 days for him to recover. No point in phoning him.
Anyway, Aasis, who is responsible for smooth, adequate gas-supply. represents a Mumbai-based agency that appears to have not got clearance yet from any oil company for direct/bulk supply of gas in bullets (Mr Arvind Rajgopaul is expert on such gas bank),instead of domestic cylinders. And Mantri's had signed a contract with this poorly equipped piped-gas agency (why, without assessing their capability ). As of now, we at Mantri's rely on a gas vendor who gets his cylinders from an Adyar-based dealer. My sense is the Adyar dealer was, and probably still is, the only authorized gas-supplier to areas along OMR that is getting increasingly populated.
Roadside eating houses along OMR account for some pilferage of cylinders that were drawn from Adyar agent for supply to gated communities.A few cylinders, on way to Mantri's used to get off-loaded by van driver on way to the highest bidder. However, I understand this is no longer the case. Anyway, gas crisis is likely to get worse before it gets better over the next few weeks.
Our elected body needs to find out 1)from Aasis, about the prospects of his company getting, any time soon, bulk supply of gas from oil company; and 2)from Mantri's, at the time of assets-takeover, the status/validity of the gas-supply contract they have signed with Mumbai-based piped-gas supply company.