New Delhi: A man has died, allegedly of a heart attack, while waiting in a queue to buy a liquid petroleum gas cylinder in Punjab’s Sehna village today, March 13.Times of India has reported that Bhushan Kumar had joined the queue outside an LPG distribution outlet at around 5 am and collapsed at around 7.50am while standing in queue.Despite Union oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri saying in parliament a day ago that there is no shortage of liquid petroleum gas despite disruptions due to the war started by Israel and the US in West Asia, concerns over LPG supply remain – some voiced by bureaucrats.News that the government has extended the LPG booking cycle for rural households to 45 days has added to this. Now, consumers will be able to book a new cylinder only 45 days after booking one, when earlier this period was 25 days.The government has also allowed restaurants and hotels to temporarily use alternative fuels such as kerosene, biomass, coal and refuse-derived fuel (RDF) pellets.The Financial Express has quoted Sujata Sharma, joint secretary (marketing) in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, as noting that this is an unprecedented situation.“The country has never seen such situation in past. Domestic supplies have been affected after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz,” she said.The Strait of Hormuz is a key global energy shipping route and India has so far not been able to negotiate an exemption from Iran.Referring to the LPG shortages reported across the country, minister Puri had said in parliament that domestic supply is protected while “panic booking and hoarding at the distributor and retail level driven by consumer anxiety rather than any supply shortage.”Government officials told Express that daily LPG bookings have increased to around 8 million cylinders, up from the usual 6 million. However, deliveries currently remain at about 5.5 million cylinders a day.The Wire has reported how the national capital of Delhi is struggling to find cooking gas. Phone numbers usually available to call and book a cylinder at are now unreachable, many said.PTI has reported that long queues formed outside LPG distribution centres across West Bengal today. The Bengal government issued a Standard Operating Procedure to strengthen coordination in monitoring LPG supply and distribution.Meanwhile, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has advised state pollution control boards to permit the use of biomass, RDF pellets, kerosene and coal by the hospitality sector for one month.Up to 60% of Mumbai’s restaurants are ready to pull their shutters until normal supply of LPG is restored, Times of India has reported. Several have decided to drastically reduce their menus.The Union government has increased kerosene allocations to states by an extra 48,000 kilolitres, over the roughly 100,000 kilolitres already distributed every quarter. Refineries have also been asked to increase LPG production.