00:02We got a gas cylinder in Delhi in under an hour, but not the way you're supposed to.
00:07Others have been waiting for days, even weeks. Many have run out of gas altogether.
00:16So how did we get one when they couldn't?
00:19For Pooja, this is what cooking looks like right now.
00:22She used to cook with LPG, like millions across Delhi.
00:26But now, she can't find a cylinder.
00:32India imports most of its cooking gas,
00:35much of it through the Strait of Hormuz,
00:37a narrow shipping route now disrupted by the conflict in the Middle East.
00:49Officially, to get a cylinder, you need a DAC,
00:52a one-time code sent to your phone when you book gas.
00:55It confirms that the delivery is yours.
00:57Officials say the rush here is being driven by people without those codes and panic buying.
01:03But many here say they've had their codes for days and still no gas.
01:08Despite this truck full of gas cylinders here behind me,
01:11people say that they are not able to secure their cooking gas.
01:15I've been speaking to the scores of people waiting outside this Delhi depot.
01:19And they say they've been waiting for four hours under this Delhi sun and there's still no movement.
01:24Many here believe that the cylinders are being diverted into the black market.
01:29So, we decided to try and buy one ourselves.
01:39We try another vendor.
01:42Then another depot.
01:44After a few more no's,
01:46finally someone approaches us.
01:48He says he can get us a cylinder.
01:5040 minutes later,
01:52he meets us.
01:57After some negotiating,
01:59the deal is done.
02:00The government previously denied there was a problem,
02:03calling claims of an illegal market unjustified panic.
02:07But in recent weeks,
02:08police have seized hundreds of cylinders in a crackdown on illegal hoarding.
02:21The gas hasn't disappeared.
02:23It's just being sold to those who can pay for it.
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