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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Commercial LPG 'evaporates' in Maharashtra

Mumbai : The short supply of commercial LPG cylinders turned ‘grim’ on Wednesday as hundreds of small and medium eateries – on whom the ordinary working Mumbaikars depend on for daily meals – shut down or drastically trimmed menus, on Wednesday.   With an estimated 50,000-plus hotels, restaurants and small food joints, the crunch is beginning to be felt severely, said Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) vice-president and Hotel and Restaurant Association Western...

Commercial LPG 'evaporates' in Maharashtra

Mumbai : The short supply of commercial LPG cylinders turned ‘grim’ on Wednesday as hundreds of small and medium eateries – on whom the ordinary working Mumbaikars depend on for daily meals – shut down or drastically trimmed menus, on Wednesday.   With an estimated 50,000-plus hotels, restaurants and small food joints, the crunch is beginning to be felt severely, said Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) vice-president and Hotel and Restaurant Association Western India (HRAWI) spokesperson Pradeep Shetty.   “We are in continuous touch with the concerned authorities, but the situation is very gloomy. There is no response from the Centre or the Ministry of Petroleum on when the situation will ease. We fear that more than 50 pc of all eateries in Mumbai will soon down the shutters. The same will apply to the rest of the state and many other parts of India,” Shetty told  ‘ The Perfect Voice’ .   The shortage of commercial LPG has badly affected multiple sectors, including the hospitality and food industries, mass private or commercial kitchens and even the laundry businesses, industry players said.   At their wits' ends, many restaurateurs resorted to the reliable old iron ‘chulhas’ (stoves) fired by either coal or wood - the prices of which have also shot up and result in pollution - besides delaying the cooking.   Anticipating a larger crisis, even domestic LPG consumers besieged retail dealers in Mumbai, Pune, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Ratnagiri, Kolhapur, Akola, Nagpur to book their second cylinder, with snaky queues in many cities. The stark reality of the 12-days old Gulf war with the disturbed supplies has hit the people and industries in the food supply chains that feed crores daily.   “The ordinary folks leave home in the morning after breakfast, then they rely on the others in the food chain for their lunch or dinner. Many street retailers have also shut down temporarily,” said Shetty.   Dry Snacks A quick survey of some suburban ‘khau gullies’ today revealed that the available items were mostly cold sandwiches, fruit or vegetable salads, cold desserts or ice-creams, cold beverages and packed snacks. Few offered the regular ‘piping hot’ foods that need elaborate cooking, or charging higher than normal menu rates, and even the app-based food delivery system was impacted.   Many people were seen gloomily munching on colorful packets of dry snacks like chips, chivda, sev, gathiya, samosas, etc. for lunch, the usually cheerful ‘chai ki dukaans’ suddenly disappeared from their corners, though soft drinks and tetrapaks were available.   Delay, Scarcity  Maharashtra LPG Dealers Association President Deepak Singh yesterday conceded to “some delays due to supply shortages” of commercial cylinders, but assured that there is no scarcity of domestic cylinders.   “We are adhering to the Centre’s guidelines for a 25 days booking period between 2 cylinders (domestic). The issue is with commercial cylinders but even those are available though less in numbers,” said Singh, adding that guidelines to prioritise educational institutions, hospitals, and defence, are being followed, but others are also getting their supplies.   Despite the assurances, Shetty said that the current status is extremely serious since the past week and the intermittent disruptions have escalated into a near-total halt in supplies in many regions since Monday.   Adding to the dismal picture is the likelihood of local hoteliers associations in different cities like Pune, Palghar, Nagpur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and more resorting to tough measures from Thursday, including temporary shutdown of their outlets, which have run out of gas stocks.

Biomedical Waste: From Neglect to Regulation

The rise of HIV/AIDS and the 'Syringe Tide' of 1987 paved the way for global recognition of the biohazard threat and the need for regulation.

In the early days of healthcare, little attention was paid to the proper disposal of medical waste. Infectious materials, sharps, and other hazardous waste were often mixed with general waste, posing significant risks to both healthcare workers and the environment. The lack of awareness and regulations led to sporadic and unsafe practices.


However, during the 1980s, the rise of HIV/AIDS and other serious health concerns brought the issue into sharper focus. It is reported that, for the first time, the topic of medical waste management was discussed at a meeting convened by the World Health Organization’s regional office for Europe in Bergen, Norway, in 1983.


The ‘Syringe Tide’ episode of 1987, described in last week’s article, further heightened concerns. This incident underlined the urgent need for specialised medical waste management services and appropriate regulations.


In the United States, the Medical Waste Tracking Act of 1988 categorised waste from hospitals as hazardous and required institutions to follow systematic guidelines for handling and disposal. As a result, a new industry of medical waste service providers emerged, offering comprehensive solutions for waste collection, transportation, treatment, and disposal.


The ‘Syringe Tide’ disaster also sent shockwaves across Europe and other Western countries. Eventually, stringent rules and regulations were introduced to govern the handling, transport from the source of generation, treatment, and disposal of medical waste.


Introduction of legislation for managing medical waste in India

In India, the first case of HIV was reported in 1986. At the time, there were no specific rules or regulations to manage medical waste. Due to the absence of legislation and a general lack of awareness among policymakers and other stakeholders, medical waste was not treated as hazardous. It was routinely mixed with general municipal solid waste and dumped in landfills or open dumping grounds.


To compound the growing burden of municipal and hospital waste, disposable plastic items were introduced into the healthcare sector in the 1970s. These items quickly gained popularity due to their convenience and durability. By the 1980s and 1990s, the use of disposable plastic items in hospitals had significantly increased, driven by the broader adoption of plastics in both daily life and medical practice.


The wake-up call: Dr B.L. Wadhera vs Union of India

In the 1990s, several NGOs and individuals in Delhi began drawing attention to the issue of unregulated medical waste management. In 1995, Dr B.L. Wadhera filed a writ petition in the Hon. Supreme Court of India, highlighting the neglected problem of medical waste disposal in Delhi. The petition pointed out that the government had failed to recognise the hazardous impact of openly dumped medical waste on public health and had not classified it appropriately as hazardous waste.


As a result, the Hon. Supreme Court directed the Government of India to appoint a committee of experts and develop a clear legislative framework for the classification and proper management of medical waste. This landmark judgement exposed major regulatory gaps and set the wheels in motion for the creation of medical waste management legislation in India. More on this in my next article. Till then, have a good weekend!


(The writer is an environmentalist.)

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