Civil Supplies Raids Hotels, Seizes LPG Cylinders in Nalgonda District

 Nalgonda: Civil supplies officials conducted raids on hotels and restaurants in parts of the erstwhile Nalgonda district on Friday and seized domestic LPG cylinders allegedly being used for commercial purposes.

In Nalgonda city, officials inspected hostels and restaurants following reports of illegal use of domestic LPG cylinders amid concerns over supply disruptions linked to the Iran-Israel war. During the raids, they seized 16 cylinders and issued notices to eight hotels.

In Miryalaguda, officials raided Manjeera Bar and Restaurant and seized eight domestic LPG cylinders.

Officials said some hotels had begun cooking with firewood due to shortage of commercial LPG cylinders. Firewood sales at saw mills have increased over the past three days. Delays of one to two days were also reported in domestic LPG cylinder deliveries due to panic bookings.

In Suryapet, police raided a shop at Potti Sriramulu Centre and found 41 LPG cylinders, including 21 domestic and 20 commercial cylinders. All 41 cylinders were seized.

Suryapet superintendent of police K. Narsimha said a case would be registered against the person who had illegally stocked the cylinders.

Hotels Association leader S. Venkat Reddy said there were 4,650 hotels, tiffin centres, fast-food outlets and eateries in the erstwhile Nalgonda district, providing livelihood to about 15,000 people. He urged the state government to allocate a special quota of LPG cylinders for them.

District collector B. Chandrasekhar said there was no shortage of domestic LPG cylinders but acknowledged a shortage of commercial cylinders due to certain reasons.