Campbell Bay | August 6, 2026
Even after the arrival of 250 stuffed home LPG cylinders in Great Nicobar almost per week in the past, the cylinders stay undistributed, prolonging the hardship confronted by residents who’ve been grappling with an acute cooking gasoline scarcity for greater than three months.
The continued delay raises severe questions over why emergency provides transported to the island throughout a unprecedented disaster have nonetheless not reached customers.
The LPG disaster had earlier sparked widespread public anger, culminating in a Chakka Jam staged by residents of Great Nicobar on July 27. The protest was referred to as off solely after the Assistant Commissioner assured the general public that steps could be taken to handle the scarcity.
In the meantime, the Administration organized for 250 stuffed home LPG cylinders to be transported to Campbell Bay aboard a Navy ship in view of the extended disruption in LPG provides. The arrival of the cylinders was additionally publicised by an official press launch issued to the native media.
However, regardless of the emergency consignment reaching Campbell Bay almost per week in the past, the cylinders proceed to stay in storage as a substitute of being provided to customers.
With households persevering with to battle with out cooking gasoline and lots of pressured to depend on various cooking strategies, the query arises as to why the emergency inventory continues to stay undistributed, significantly when it was transported utilizing a Navy vessel because of the extended disruption in common LPG transportation.
Seeking clarification, Nicobar Times tried to satisfy the Assistant Commissioner, Campbell Bay, on Thursday morning. However, even at round 11 a.m., the official was nonetheless at his residence. Staff members, together with the Higher Grade Clerk (HGC), have been additionally unaware why he was unavailable on the workplace.
In-Charge of the LPG distribution company, CCS Ltd., knowledgeable Nicobar Times that the cylinders have been deliberately being saved within the godown. According to the company, the Local Administration determined in opposition to distributing the restricted inventory instantly, citing the potential for unrest amongst customers who wouldn’t obtain cylinders. The company additional acknowledged that distribution could be taken up solely after a bigger amount of LPG cylinders reaches the island.
The rationalization, nevertheless, raises additional questions. If a Navy ship was deployed to move the cylinders as a result of common LPG provides had remained disrupted for over three months, the aim of the emergency consignment ought to have been to offer quick reduction as a substitute of permitting the cylinders to stay unused in storage.
It was the accountability of the native administration to plan a clear and equitable mechanism to determine precedence beneficiaries—equivalent to households that had exhausted their LPG provide, senior residents and different weak customers—and distribute the out there cylinders till recent consignments arrived.
The continued storage of the out there emergency inventory, regardless of the extended LPG scarcity, raises severe issues over the administration’s dealing with of the disaster and its response to certainly one of Great Nicobar’s most urgent civic points.
