Letters to The Editor — March 11, 2026

LPG supply crisis

I wish to draw urgent attention to a serious problem that households are facing in booking LPG (Indane) refills. There is a complete breakdown of the booking and delivery system. For several days now, consumers have been unable to book LPG refills through any available mode. The official booking numbers frequently remain switched off, and even when calls do connect, no confirmation SMS or DAC (Delivery Authentication Code) is generated.

Without this crucial DAC message, delivery personnel are refusing to provide the cylinder. The booking portal in many cases incorrectly shows that a cylinder has already been booked, thereby preventing consumers from placing a new refill order — even when no such booking was made and no cylinder was delivered.

Yesterday, when the LPG delivery vehicle arrived in our locality, several residents gathered hoping to receive their refill cylinders. However, the delivery staff stated that they had strict instructions to supply cylinders only upon presentation of the DAC message. Interestingly, the delivery vehicles remained in the area for hours.

Equally concerning is that attempts to contact the LPG distribution agency yielded no response.

Aditya Das,

Bhowali, Uttarakhand

It is unfortunate that the Centre could not anticipate the cooking gas shortage arising out of the Iran-Israel-U.S. war. The way out is to look east and seek Brunei crude/gas to tide over the crisis.

Unless proactive actions are initiated on a war-footing, the situation will go out of control. There is already the threat of unemployment looming over gig workers and the hospitality sector.

A.V. Narayanan,

Chennai

K.N. Pannikar

In the passing of Professor K.N. Pannikar, the nation has lost a great intellectual and historian. His approachability with students and colleagues also made him a truly distinguished personality.

Balasubramaniam Pavani,

Secunderabad