30th day of Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling's Village to Village Tour

Gangtok: 22nd July: The Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling on the 30th day of his village to village tour emphasized on the welfare measures of the government. Talking about the various welfare measures of the government the Chief Minister declared that the age for the Old Age Pension which is 65 years will be reduced to 60 years from now onwards. He also declared that an amount of Rs.600/- per month will be given to old people of the age group of 60 to 80 years. For the people of above 80 years the amount will be increased to  Rs.1000/- per month, the Chief Minister announced. He also announced Maternity Allowance of Rs. 3000/- as one time grant for the mothers in case of institutional delivery. He also announced Child Protection Allowance of Rs.500/- per month for children till they attain six years in case of institutional delivery. This he said is being done to encourage institutional delivery which will not only safeguard the mother during delivery but will also help in reducing infant mortality rate of the state.

The Chief Minister was very much disappointed about the malpractices involved in the distribution of domestic LPG Cylinders. In this regard he said that the people involved in misuse of cylinders shall be brought to justice. The middlemen involved in this trade shall be booked too. The government has taken very serious note of this, the Chief Minister added.  Talking about the various schemes and projects undertaken at various places around the state the Chief Minister said transparency has to be maintained in these projects as the people have every right to know about the projects being undertaken at their places. Social estimates of the projects have to be prepared and it should be explained in a lay man’s term to the villages in the Gram Sabha.

It is for the people that we are working and they should know what is happening around them. Since the people do not understand the technicalities involved in the projects they should be explained in as simple way as possible so that they understand the projects. In this regard the Chief Minister also said that the people also have the responsibility towards the projects. They should see that the projects being undertaken at their areas are of quality and should voice their grievances if they are not satisfied with the implementation of the projects. At Rongli Bazar, the Sikkim Chief Minister while talking about the demand of upgradation of school said that the government has taken a decision to upgrade and update the existing infrastructure of the school for next two years and the upgradation of the school will be taken up after two years. He also informed that the work for beautification and upgradation of Rongli Bazar like that of MG Marg, Gangtok will be started very soon. In this regard he solicited the cooperation of the local people. Their was hue and cry when we started the beautification of MG Marg, Gangtok and we had to face much criticism but later on the people realized that this has been done for good cause. Now the business has increased manifold in Gangtok Bazar, the Chief Minister said.

At Rongli Bazar the Chief Minister also inaugurated a Shiva Temple. At Sudunglakha, the Chief Minister inaugurated the Veterinary Sub Centre. During the 30th day the Chief Minister addressed the public at Dalapchand, Rongli Bazar and Sudunglakha.

Parliamentary committee in Gangtok to review LPG shortage issue

A high level standing committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas, Parliament of India has arrived in the capital to review the problems of LPG shortage in Sikkim. The delegation is spearheaded by Member of Parliament and Chairperson of the committee, Shri Aruna Kumar.

Officials of Indian Oil Corporation already arrived a day before and held meetings with Chief Secretary and Secretary for Food & Supply.

Recently the people of Sikkim faced an acute shortage of LPG cylinders, both domestic and commercial. The delegation is here to assess the situation and to find out how it can be best handled.

The LPG domestic refill requirement of is 5292 cylinders per day but only 3500 cylinders, sometime even less are supplied in the state. With touristic season reaching to its peak demand for commercial cylinders is also intense.

At present there are seven distributors in Sikkim and two trucks carrying 252 LPG cylinders off loads per distributor.

Sikkim government also distributes, 6400 LPG connections to people living below poverty line and near forest areas through its Janta Mela Scheme every year. But shortage in day to distribution of cylinders makes situation graver for such welfare schemes.

Major area of concern where the committee will focus on is the production constraint of LPG plant at Mazitar. Whatsoever number of bulk used to come to Mazitar Plant three years ago, same number of bulk is being received these days too. Moreover, break-down of the chain at Mazitar plant is a regular phenomena resulting non-supply.

Committie will also look on to the recommendations by Mr. P.D Rai, Member of Parliament from Sikkim. In his recommendations to committee MP proposed IOC to set up a second plant at Melli which will cater to the need of South/West Sikkim in future. MP also recommended reviewing the quota of LPG cylinder for Sikkim as lot many people working on many projects in the state also constitute in the total population using LPG. Storage facility at plant waiting for technical assistance and commissioning should be expedited is also proposed.

Gangtok hit with inadequate supply of LPG cylinders

Gangtok, May 6 (PTI) East District Collector D Anandan has issued strict directions to the concerned authorities to ensure uninterrupted and adequate supply of LPG cylinders to consumers in the district. This was in response to complaints reaching his office that refills for domestic LPG cylinders were becoming hard to obtain. The DC convened an emergency meeting today with representatives of the LPG distributors, officials of the IOC, Food and Civil Supplies Department and members of the Sikkim Hotels and Restaurants Association. The meeting was convened to ascertain the reasons behind the shortage of LPG refills in the recent weeks and came to the conclusion that this was a �temporary shortage� was caused due to the three-day shutdown of the LPG plant at Rangpo because of the West Bengal elections and observation of fire safety week by the IOC. The DC urged the IOC officials to maintain buffer stocks for uninterrupted supply even if supplies to the plant were hit by disruptions. In this context, the IOC officials assured the DC that a new unit, with capacity to stock 23,000 cylinders, will be made operational immediately. The DC also asked hoteliers and restaurant owners to use only commercial cylinders. Warning them of strict action as per the norms, the DC announced that raids will be conducted to ensure that only commercial cylinders were used in the commercial For this, the Meanwhile, the DC has appealed to the consumers not to panic as the supply will normalise within few days, Sub-Divisional Magistrate [Gangtok], AB Karki, who attended the meeting said.

TADONG RESIDENTS DUPED OF THEIR LPG CYLINDERS

GANGTOK, October 16: In addition to the woes of scarcity of LPG cylinders and the Dasai festival ahead, the residents of Tadong have been duped by a porter who was sent for refilling of the cylinders.
Police reports suggest that one Bikash Chettri residence of Banar Haat West Bengal has absconded after taking 14 Nos LPG cylinders and the cash amount from the residents of Tadong, Gangtok, East Sikkim.
A manhunt is on to nab the culprit, police say.
The case has been registered under section 406 of the IPC and is under investigation.

Messages of Chief Minister of Sikkim on the occasion of 53rd Wildlife Week 2007

Sikkim is a tiny part of the Indian sub-continent and still forms part of the famous Eastern Himalayas Biodiversity Hotspot; i.e. it is an ecologically fragile spot on the face of our blue planet, which is the only known planet in the universe that supports life. We humans are just one of the magnificent varieties of life or bio-diversity on this Planet Earth.Sikkim occupies a pride of place in Northeast India. As far as our tourism destinations are concerned there are perhaps none finer. We pride ourselves on our green image and steps taken by all the Sikkimese in preserving this. We are slowly making our mark as an eco-friendly tourist destination by seeking to empower our youth and local communities in new sources of gainful employment. As more wildlife watchers for birding, butterflies and other natural enthusiasts visit our beautiful small state, more of our youth will come in contact with the reality of having a passion and hobby that can not only the uplifting for the soul but also economically beneficial in the short and long term.Conserving this living wild wealth is now our priority and we need to strike the right balance between sustainable development of our fragile State and conserving our natural welfare long term benefits for our future generation. All communities in Sikkim are known for their compassion for wild life. On this auspicious occasion of the 53rd Wildlife Week 2007, let us spread this awareness by keeping mind, “AHIMSA PARAMO DHARMA”.

(Dr. PAWAN CHAMLING)

Chief Minister of Sikkim

LPG crisis Continue in Sikkim despite the all the positive government statements

GANGTOK, Oct. 4: With LPG cylinders running short in the state in festival month, common people are a worried lot. According to officials, supply of LPG cylinders to the state has been affected owing to recent bridge collapse on NH-34 at Domohana in North Dinajpur and poor condition of NH-31A at 27th Mile in Kalimpong sub-division.People are seen waiting in long queue everyday to get LPG cylinders. At Tadong, Metro Point, Deorali, Development Area and Sichey, people wait for the whole night to get the LPG cylinders next morning. "We waited for several hours yesterday to get cylinders. Finally, the LPG vehicle arrived around 1 a.m.," said Ms Asha Chettri, a resident of Gangtok.The customers even had fights with each other when the driver and the handy boy of the LPG lorry fled from the spot, she added."We are fed up with the LPG crisis as ahead of festivals," said Mrs Niru Rai, a resident of Deorali. Commenting on short supply of LPG cylinders, Mr Navin Chhetri, additional district collector, East, said: "Apart from bridge collapse in North Dinajpur and poor condition of the NH-31A, another reason that has aggravated the crisis is increasing number of LPG consumers. Our bottling capacity at Mazitar is only 10 to 12 lorries. Each lorry contains only 200 cylinders which is not adequate for the state. The state needs 2,000 to 2,500 LPG cylinders everyday to cater to the needs of the people.

Sikkim to have additional storage capacity of fuel:IOC

Gangtok,October2: As the crisis of cooking gas continued in Sikkim for a month,the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) in the collaboration with the state government of Sikkim has decided to enhance the storage capacity for this landlocked strategic state Sikkim.

We have agreed to enhance the capacity of the fuel depot and LPG bottling plant located at Rangpo ," In charge of Siliguri IOC office, Sammir Sinha after a meeting with state government officials yesterday.

Mr. Sinha is also state level coordinator of the Sikkim for IOC. Speaking to the journalists in Gangtok ,Mr.Sinha said the demand for the LPG in the state has increased many folds."with the increase in demands, we want to ensure supply and storage of these essential items in also increased to fulfill the monthly requirement or demand of Sikkim." The IOC official said the supply of the petrol and diesel will be enhanced three times and twice the present quantities respectively.

There are 14 authorised retail IOC dealers and nine kerosene agents in the Sikkim with a sole depot and the bottling plant at Rangpo.

The LPG supply to Sikkim is routed through Siliguri from Barouni in Bihar,while fuel supplies are made from Assam.The disruptions of the NH-31A connecting Sikkim with Siliguri has resulted in triggering an acute crisis of LPG cylinders in state.

However, at least sixteen LPG and fuel tankers have finally reached the depot and bottling plant at Rangpo on an average from Friday providing relief to the local people, industrial units and defence establishments .

We are now position to fulfill 100% demand of the state.We expect to release 3500 cylinders a day from Rangpo plant from this onwards to cater to all the requirements before festive season of Dasain.

IOC official also acknowledged their thanks to co-operation and help from Chief Secretary and District Collector East Vishal Chauhan .It may be noted that Chief Secretary Chingapa during his official visit to Delhi last week has raised the matter of LPG shortage with PMO and Petroleum Secretary to Government of India which has really set the ball rolling at all levels.

Cooking Gas Shortage to End Shortly: D.C. (EAST) Vishal Chauhan

LPG crisis to continues for a while
GANGTOK, September 29: The LPG crisis is likely to continue till first week of October 2007.
The backlog demand of LPG refill in the city today triggered a group of people to stop a truck carrying LPG halfway at Lower Metro Point, 5th Mile forcing the driver stop the vehicle, which was moving towards Gangtok.
Supply of LPG in Sikkim has hit an all time low due to continued transportation problems along the National Highway 31, Raiganj, North Dinajpur, West Bengal. The ongoing work at the Tar Khola bridge, which falls on the only lifeline to Sikkim, National Highway 31-A, the route taken by trucks carrying LPG cylinders to various agencies in state, has further aggravated the problem causing hardship to the people for the past month.
And the serpentine queues outside various gas agencies as well as along the way are getting longer by the day.
The situation worsened today when people decided to line up in several locations with the prime intention of stopping trucks carrying LPG on the way.
“For the past week we have returned home empty handed after long hours of wait at the Sate Trading Corporation of Sikkim and so we decided to do this today,” said people from Lower Tadong.
According to informed sources, the irate public who were running in search of cooking gas since the past few days stopped the truck today morning at around 8: 30am at Metro Point.
“We are fed up of the LPG crisis. What is the concerned department doing,” lambasted one of the consumer who has no alternative but to cook food in a stove for the past two weeks. Some consumers on the other hand complain of getting only two liters of kerosene oil per family which has further aggravated the problem.
However, witnessing the situation going worst, the driver and the handy boy fled away from the truck leaving everything for the gathered crowd. The people started taking out the cylinders on their own which even led to another quarrel and even minor physical fights amongst the consumers themselves.
Later the Police reached the spot under the supervision of SP East MS Tuli and the situation was brought under control.
As per the information received, the cylinders were that of a private distributor of Gangtok. However, in the rage, there are reports of five cylinders missed.
Vishal Chauhan, DC East informed, “Five trucks of cylinders were brought into the state today, one for Namchi and rest four for Gangtok. He also informed that by Monday the problem of cylinder crisis would be solved as seven more block tankers of LPG are arriving at the Rangpo depot.
Stating the reason of the crisis as continuous landslides, the DC also informed that more cylinders would be brought from Siliguri tomorrow. He further informed that the coming of the truck would be delayed by a day owing to the repair works at Tar Khola on Sunday.

LPG SHORTAGE TRIGGER KITCHEN CRISIS IN SIKKIM

Gangtok needs 50,000 Cylinders a month

Practically cut off from the rest of the world over the last fortnight, thanks to nature's wrath, Sikkim is facing an unprecedented shortage of fuel, especially LPG. There are reports that patience of people waiting for LPG finally seems to be running out as they have started now stopping trucks carrying LPG cylinders from Siliguri to distributor's Stores in Gangtok,Namchi,Jorethang etc. to overcome crisis in their Kitchens although District Collector East Vishal Chauhan has once more appealed to people of Sikkim to co-operate as they are soon going to takeoff some gas pressure by making more supplies and also informedof Police escort or trucks carrying LPG cylinders to various Stores of their authorised distributors.IndianOil iis going to seek help from the army to airlift LPG stock from Siliguri to Gangtok. "After informal discussions, it is being planned to officially seek help from the Indian Army to airlift a limited number of LPG cylinders to Gangtok till normalcy returns," an IndianOil spokesperson said. Besides civilians, the army, with its heavy concentration along the Sino-Indian border, is also a major buyer of LPG in Sikkim. 'Even if this needs to be done, it would be a tough job as airlifting filled-up LPG botdes requires special kind of security and technical arrangements. Moreover, ferrying a couple of cylinders by our choppers would involve huge expense," said a senior official at the Indian Army 33 Corps HQ at Sukna near Siliguri. The Corps has an army aviation helicopter squadron flying the Hindustan Aeronautics-built Chetak choppers. The whole state is experiencing a severe fuel crisis, including kerosene, petrol diesel and LPG. With landslides disrupting Sikkim's lifeline NH-31A and most of the other state highways, the LPG distributors in Gangtok or in major district towns are running almost dry. Due to road disruption, vehicle movement is restricted, reducing the demand for diesel. But, the demand for LPG is at the same level in the urban areas. According to IndianOil senior area manager B Lama, Gangtok needs around 50,000 LPG cylinders a month, which is mosdy supplied by IndianOil 's LPG bottling plant at Rangpo in Sikkim.Multi-axle tankers carry bulk LPG stock to the Rangpo plant. "After a long gap, we could get five tankers to Rangpo on Tuesday. The stock can refill just 7,500 cylinders," he added. However, die rural areas of Sikkim, where over 85% of the population depends on kerosene and firewood, are going to face trouble for the next couple of days.

LPG CRISIS GRIPS SIKKIM

GANGTOK, September 27: The Chief Secretary of Sikkim N.Chingapa held an meeting with Union Petroleum Secretary at New Delhi today where Indian Oil Corporation has been directed to take emergency steps to restore supplies of LPG to Customers .It was also decided that to meet future contingencies, Government of Sikkim would provide land on priority to Public oil sector Companies to enable it to build additional LPG storage capacity in state besides the existing one.

Meanwhile, it hasbeen confirmed that Barauni Refinery has expressed their inability to supply LPG through 8 tons Gas tankers as that would be cost inefficient to sustain supplies despite the road conditions and their breaches on way to Sikkim as per reports.

Severe shortage of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) has hit thousands of homes in Sikkim.
The heavy rains and floods in Raiganj and Uttar Dinajpur, West Bengal has added to the already starved supply of petroleum products and LPG in the State.
Grappling with an acute LPG crisis for the past 15-20 days, some of the people in Sikkim are forced to invade nearby forests.
People who made bookings 15 days back at the State Trading Corporation of Sikkim (STCS) are still awaiting LPG in a never ending queue.
Menla Ethenpa, Manager, STCS admitted the shortage of LPG. He said that the only Indian Oil Corporation Bottling plant at Majitar has LPG supply enough only fro two days.
Moreover, a meeting was held with the police so as to stop distributing LPG on VIP quota and also along the roadside.
Earlier, STCS was receiving 50 trucks of LPG, amounting to 250 LPG cylinders. But in this month it had come down to 15 trucks making it too difficult for them to cope with the demand.
With the LPG shortage not coming to an end, the local residents are growing impatient. A large number of people at 5th Mile who ran short of cooking gas for the past one week decided to take out a procession this morning and stop the truck carrying LPG.
“I had booked a cylinder on September 12, but didn’t get it till today,” said an irate Bikash Chettri. “I had to skip a meal to decrease the use of my old stove with less kerosene around,” said Passangkith, a local housewife.
However, the STCS today managed to distribute 600 nos LPG, out of which 400 were distributed from the STCS complex itself, 100 from Syari Cooperative Society and 100 from 5th Mile, Tadong.
According to the STCS officials, it will take another seven days for Raiganj roads to open.
However, in order to curtail the crisis, the STCS had through the State Chief Secretary written to the Union Petroleum Minister detailing about the crisis.
According to informed sources, owing to the breakage of a bridge at North Dinajpur National Highway, the military has not permitted vehicles carrying above 8 ton, due to which LPG trucks carrying more than 13 tons coming to Sikkim from Beurauni had to be stalled halfway.
In a letter written to the Petroleum Minister dated September 24, the STCS has suggested as well as sought permission to bring LPG via Assam.