Karnataka police personnel and the food and civil supplies department officials conduct a joint inspection at a gas warehouse in Karnataka to audit stock levels and prevent illegal hoarding amid the state-wide LPG shortage
Karnataka police guard LPG warehouses as shortage fuels theft, illegal sales
As hoarding and cylinder thefts surge amid a severe supply crunch, the state administration deploys joint task forces and night patrols to stabilize distribution
A sudden and severe shortage of LPG across Karnataka has left residents waiting for days at gas agencies for cylinders, triggering widespread public anxiety and creating fresh law and order challenges for the state administration.
Reacting to this crisis, the food and civil supplies department and the police department have launched a coordinated crackdown on illegal hoarding, black market sales, and cylinder theft.
Black market prices double
Officials suspect that some gas agencies are deliberately withholding stock to create artificial shortages and are selling cylinders at inflated prices — in some cases, they are also doubling the standard rate. To counter this, teams from the food and civil supplies department are conducting daily surprise inspections at gas agency warehouses, auditing inventory records and verifying the number of cylinders that have been received and distributed each day.
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Agencies found to be hoarding stock, or selling in the black market, or even diverting domestic cylinders for commercial use are facing cancellation of licences.
Police deployed at warehouses
In an unprecedented move, police personnel are now accompanying the food and civil supplies officials during warehouse inspections — which is unprecedented. Officials are maintaining the daily accounts of cylinder supply and distribution, and cases are being registered on the spot when illegal stocks are discovered.
Also Read: No gas, no business: How India's LPG crisis is crippling restaurants
Muniraju, a gas distributor in Devanahalli, said, "Earlier, no inspections were carried out. Now, a joint team of department officials and police personnel inspects warehouses regularly. We are required to submit daily distribution accounts by evening, and commercial cylinders are being prioritised for student hostels and hospitals."
Cylinder thefts on the rise
The shortage has also triggered a spike in theft.
Police have received complaints of cylinders — both empty and filled — being stolen from outside homes, from distributors' vehicles, and from warehouses at night. The police department has responded by deploying special night security at all gas agency warehouses, with patrol vehicles stationed around storage sites and checks on suspicious persons and vehicles intensified.
Administration under pressure
A Shilpa, deputy director of the food and civil supplies department, confirmed that inspections are conducted across all gas warehouses in coordination with the police to prevent black market sales. While the state government has held talks with suppliers to ease the supply crunch, officials acknowledge that the scale of enforcement now required reflects the severity of the crisis.
The common man continues to bear the brunt of the disruption, even as authorities work to restore normalcy.
(This article was originally published in The Federal Karnataka)
