RAWALPINDI, March 5: A grand operation against the illegal business of decanting of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) was launched by the Civil Defence Department at Adiala Road on Saturday and four illegal LPG agencies were sealed.The department also sealed eight shops for selling petrol and diesel illegally.

Civil Defence Chief Instructor Talib Hussain told Dawn that the Punjab government issued directives to Civil Defence Department to launch action against the illegal business of decanting of LPG in the district.

He said that the Civil Defence team started operation at Adiala Road and visited four villages Jhamarian, Thallah, Kasla Kalan and Gorakhpur.

He said that the team found four LPG agencies and eight shops decanting LPG and selling petrol and diesel without any licence.

He said that the department took this step under Petroleum Act 1934 Rule No. 1971 and LPG Protection and Distribution Act 2001. They sealed the shops and lodged FIRs with the police stations of their respective areas.

Increase in LPG prices flayedDealers of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) have rapped the marketing companies for increasing the prices at a time when the LPG rates were already too high for consumers. Marketing companies have increased the LPG prices by Rs4 per kilogram, backed by an increase in the international market, by $30 per ton. “The international market has reacted to the situation in Arab countries,” said Irfan Khokhar, chairman LPG Distributors Association, adding that the 3 cents per kilogram increase should not be passed on to consumers. “We have been caught between greedy marketing companies and the poor masses,” he added. Dealers said the companies are selling LPG at higher prices while the consumer prices are declining due to falling demand.

The association in a letter to the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has demanded that the prices of LPG be ‘rationalised’. It said due to arrival of warmer months, the demand was declining and LPG consumption and the local production was same at around 1,500 tons per day, and negligible quantity was being imported.

“Therefore, increasing the prices based on international prices at this time was irrational,” the letter said, adding that the LPG marketing companies have already made enormous profits in January when the LPG was Rs160 per kilogram.

However, in the wake of high rates, the marketing companies and the dealers had stored additional stocks, but with declining demand the rates have dropped below the prescribed prices.

Retail price Ogra notified for Rawalpindi and Islamabad is Rs104 per kilogram but the LPG was being sold at Rs100 per kilogram due to excessive competition among retailers.