Dealers allegedly making the most of the crisis by creating an artificial scarcity Waiting time for gas supply has gone up LPG black marketing has increased significantly NEW DELHI: The poor people who depend on small refilled gas cylinders for their cooking needs these days have been hit the hardest by the acute shortage of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supply in and around Delhi. They are having to pay as much as Rs.80 per kg for the fuel -- equivalent to Rs.1,436 for a 14.2 kg cylinders -- whose real cost is only Rs.293.35. For domestic maid Anjana, who lives in Indirapuram and works in seven households for making a living, the recent jump in the price of cooking gas has upset all the plans for saving. "We use about seven to eight kg of gas in a month and so while earlier I was spending about Rs.300 on LPG, now that amount has gone up to about Rs. 600.' While there has officially been no increase in the price of LPG, the dealers are making the most of the crisis by creating an artificial scarcity as well. In many colonies across the National Capital Region the waiting time for gas supply in the past month has gone up to between 25 and 30 days. But while the demand for gas did increase due to the dramatic and unexpected drop in temperature in January end and early February, the dealers and their deliverymen have exploited it systematically. A case in point is Indirapuram in Ghaziabad, where residents recently realised upon being delivered gas that while the gas cylinders for their homes had indeed been released in late January, the deliverymen had deliberately withheld them to make money by diverting the cylinders into the black market in the meantime. "I had booked my gas (Consumer No. 9967) in late January and the order for our Indane gas supply was issued by Yadu Gas Sewa on January 27 but it was a full two weeks later that the cylinder was supplied to us on February 9,' said Aradhna B, a resident of Indirapuram. In Delhi, too, black marketing of LPG has increased significantly. Full cylinders which were earlier being sold in black for Rs.550 each are now selling for around Rs.700. And the price of gas in the retail market here has also gone up to around Rs.70 per kg. Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Jagdish Mukhi has demanded that LPG black marketing be curbed and action taken against those involved in corruption.