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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.

BJP looks to beating Shinde in Mumbai

Updated: Oct 30, 2024

PARTY TRYING TO PUSH SS FOR ADJUSTMENT WHILE KEEPING ITS SHARE INTACT

BJP

Mumbai: Though the BJP did not declare any candidate from Mumbai in its second list of 22 candidates for the Assembly election the party workers are hoping for a greater share of power in the city in terms of contesting more seats and enhancing its performance this time.


The BJP had won 16 out of the 17 seats it contested from the city in 2019. This time the party has so far only announced candidates for only 14 of those 17 seats. The party is yet to declare candidates from Borivali, Varsova, and Ghatkopar East constituencies, which it had contested and won in 2019. This clearly means that either the party is undecided over whom to field from these constituencies or an intense bargain is going on with the alliance partners over these seats.


Apart from these three seats, party workers say, the BJP is eyeing at least a couple of more seats to come to its kitty. In Andheri East constituency BJP’s Murji Patel, who had contested as an Independent, polled second highest votes against Shiv Sena’s Ramesh Latke. His wife Rutuja Latke is the sitting MLA from the seat and she is with Shiv Sena (UBT), which is why the BJP is said to be very keen about the constituency.


The BJP is also opposed to at least a couple of candidates from the allies, like Nawab Malik and Swikruti Sharma (wife of encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma) and hence can get in bargain some of the other seats from the allies, the party insiders said.


For almost four decades the BJP had been slowly and steadily increasing its presence in the city. The united Shiv Sena was certainly powerful in the city than the BJP.


But, in 2017 the BJP won almost equal seats in the municipal corporation and on that basis bagged 17 out of the 36 seats in the city. While it is eyeing for contesting at least 18 seats this time, the party is certainly hoping for a couple of more seats.


Mumbai being the financial capital of the country, it is assumed that the party that rules the city would also rule the majority of business sector of the nation.


The BJP is also eyeing the municipal polls which might follow after the Assembly polls. To be in a better position to contest those polls, the party is trying to grab major share now, the insiders said.

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