Bhubaneswar, Mar 11: Gas shortages triggered by unrest in the Middle East have begun affecting several parts of India, including Bhubaneswar. Long queues for cooking gas have been reported, and some hotels have temporarily shut down due to the lack of supply.

The crisis has now impacted the Satya Nagar crematorium in Bhubaneswar, where gas-based cremation has remained suspended for the past five days due to the unavailability of commercial gas cylinders.

Under the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), there are four crematoriums equipped with gas furnaces. Three of them are connected to pipeline gas supplied by GAIL (India) Limited. However, the Satya Nagar crematorium still depends on commercial gas cylinders and requires around 14 cylinders every week.

According to officials, the agency responsible for supplying gas to BMC has not provided cylinders since the 5th of this month. After the issue was brought to the attention of the government, the Mayor assured that gas supply would resume from today. Authorities have also written to GAIL (India) Limited to install a pipeline gas connection at the Saty Nagar crematorium soon.

Once the supply is restored, cremations using gas furnaces are expected to resume as normal.