Gas agencies support flood victims in AP with repairs and replacements

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. 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,asked Ramanamma, who was busy cleaning her house, if she was aware of the free gas service centre. 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.