Confusion over 45-day cap on LPG refill in rural areas of Kolhapur

Kolhapur: Rural residents of Kolhapur district are enraged after they were denied LPG cylinders that were booked by them much earlier than the 45 day restriction came into force a few days ago.Tanaji (name changed) had his booking done six days ago and was earlier assured that in three to four days he will get another LPG cylinder. The booking was done a month after his last refill, but now the family of five has no LPG left. "On Saturday, I visited the distributor again and he told me to wait for 45 days. I am confused since when I booked, the 45 day restriction rule was not there. Now, I have urgency. How can I wait for 45 days more to get the refill?" Tanaji asked.The retrospective implementation, for those who already booked, of the 45-day no refill period is causing troubles for many.Mohini Chavan, district supplies officer of Kolhapur, said, "To address the technical issues related to the bookings, we have asked the companies to get it resolved. Those in the rural area who have already got the booking done and have completed 45 days since the last cylinder was issued, should get the LPG even though the booking is recent."The Kolhapur district administration has also placed the order for kerosene. "Since Kolhapur stopped kerosene use long ago, we neither have a storage facility right now, nor a separate facility to transport. However, in rural areas, there are other options such as wood and cow dung cakes and to my knowledge there is no scarcity of the alternate fuel," Chavan added.