Pune gas crematoriums shut

Pune: The Pune Municipal Corporation has temporarily closed the city’s gas crematoriums following restrictions on the use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) components such as propane and butane amid the ongoing West Asia conflict.

LPG is a mixture of propane and butane.

The US-Israel war on Iran has disrupted oil and natural gas exports from the Middle East.

According to the Pune civic body, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas issued an order on March 5 directing that available propane and butane be prioritised for domestic LPG supply across the country.

In view of the resulting gas shortage, the Pune Municipal Corporation has decided to keep its gas crematoriums closed from March 5 until further orders, a civic official said on Sunday.

To avoid inconvenience to people, electric crematoriums and wood-fired facilities equipped with air pollution control systems will continue to function, the official added.

At the Vaikunth crematorium in the city, three gas-fired furnaces will remain shut temporarily, while five electric furnaces at the facility will remain operational for public use, the civic body said. -

Meanwhile, long queues of consumers clutching empty LPG cylinders were on Monday seen outside a Bharat Gas agency in Noida’s Sector 22. A viral video from Birdpur village in Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur district showed at least hundreds of people sitting on their empty LPG cylinders lined up outside a gas agency.

The sense of crisis could be the doing of some suppliers to cash in on the panic related to reports of supply disruptions because of the Iran war. A person from a small town in Uttar Pradesh, claimed that she was forced to buy a domestic LPG cylinder on the black market for Rs 1,500.

India is also the world’s second-biggest importer of LPG, according to news agency Reuters. Around 80% of India’s LPG imports pass through the strategic Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.