Gas agencies support flood victims in AP with repairs and replacements
By : Sri Krishna Kumara
Update: 2024-09-11 16:53 GMT
Vijayawada: Free stove-repair centres opened by gas agencies in the flood-hit areas are of immense help to the poor here.
Gas agencies responded to a call from the state government to come to the aid of the flood-affected people, many of whose household items were damaged.
The agencies set up around 10 free service centres in various parts of the city, including the Shadhi Khana Gupta Centre, Kummaripalem, the MLC Point Gollapudi, the RTC Workshop Road, Bhavani Puram etc.
The gas agencies are also replacing spare parts like gas regulators and gas tubes on a cost-to-cost basis. Households can also avail the facility of exchanging their old gas stoves for discounts on new ones.
“Though there is a labour shortage, we have been repairing all the gas stoves brought in by the affected people since Monday. On average, 100 persons come to us with their stoves a day,” said Kumar, managing partner of Vijaya HP Gas Enterprises in Ajith Singh Nagar.
Hari Babu, a resident of Luna Centre, said, “The government distributed essential ration kits consisting of 25kg rice, onions, potatoes and cooking oil to all of us in the affected areas. However, we had difficulty cooking our food because the stoves were damaged in the floods.”
At Radha Nagar, Deccan Chronicle asked Ramanamma, who was busy cleaning her house, if she was aware of the free gas service centre. She responded, “No. Nobody informed us about this.”
Gas dealers said they were awaiting guidelines from the gas companies regarding the gas cylinders that were submerged in floodwaters.
“Currently, we are offering free repair services for the stoves. But when people bring in their gas cylinders with complaints, we are in a fix. We have got no instruction yet whether they should be replaced or not,” Kumar added.
The agencies set up around 10 free service centres in various parts of the city, including the Shadhi Khana Gupta Centre, Kummaripalem, the MLC Point Gollapudi, the RTC Workshop Road, Bhavani Puram etc.
The gas agencies are also replacing spare parts like gas regulators and gas tubes on a cost-to-cost basis. Households can also avail the facility of exchanging their old gas stoves for discounts on new ones.
“Though there is a labour shortage, we have been repairing all the gas stoves brought in by the affected people since Monday. On average, 100 persons come to us with their stoves a day,” said Kumar, managing partner of Vijaya HP Gas Enterprises in Ajith Singh Nagar.
Hari Babu, a resident of Luna Centre, said, “The government distributed essential ration kits consisting of 25kg rice, onions, potatoes and cooking oil to all of us in the affected areas. However, we had difficulty cooking our food because the stoves were damaged in the floods.”
At Radha Nagar, Deccan Chronicle asked Ramanamma, who was busy cleaning her house, if she was aware of the free gas service centre. She responded, “No. Nobody informed us about this.”
Gas dealers said they were awaiting guidelines from the gas companies regarding the gas cylinders that were submerged in floodwaters.
“Currently, we are offering free repair services for the stoves. But when people bring in their gas cylinders with complaints, we are in a fix. We have got no instruction yet whether they should be replaced or not,” Kumar added.