A dispute over LPG connections has intensified in Ahmedabad’s eastern areas after the Gujarat Congress alleged that household LPG connections are being suspended before piped natural gas (PNG) lines become operational, leaving residents without a reliable cooking-fuel option. The party said it has protested the action and put up banners in several localities, including Narol and Isanpur.
According to the report, residents whose LPG connections were suspended approached gas agencies to ask why their cylinders had been stopped. They were allegedly told that their neighbourhoods had been declared part of a “PNG notified area”. Congress claimed that this was happening even in locations where PNG pipelines had not yet been laid or where connections were not operational.
The party said the procedure should be followed only after a PNG pipeline has been physically installed in an area and the connection is functional. It alleged that residents were being pressured to shift to PNG in advance, despite the absence of the network needed to supply the fuel.
Rajesh Soni, general secretary of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee, alleged that PNG lines could still take more than a month to reach some of the areas where LPG cylinders had been suspended. He said ordinary families and homemakers could be forced to buy LPG cylinders at higher prices through the black market if their regular connections remained unavailable.
Congress also alleged that removing LPG as an alternative could leave households dependent on private PNG suppliers. The party expressed concern that consumers would have limited ability to respond to future price increases once they no longer had a functioning LPG option. These claims were made as part of the party’s protest and were not independently established in the supplied report.
The immediate issue is the gap between declaring an area eligible for PNG and making the service available to every affected household. For residents, the suspension of an LPG connection before an operational alternative is provided could create a direct disruption to cooking arrangements and household budgets.
The Gujarat Congress has demanded that suspended LPG connections be restored immediately and that residents be allowed to choose between LPG and PNG. The supplied report does not include a response from the state government, gas distribution agencies or PNG companies to the allegations or the demands.
