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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.

Congress workers unhappy with seat allocation

Updated: Oct 30, 2024

They are dejected as Shiv Sena (UBT) bags Byculla, Versova, and Vile-Parle. Only solace is Bandra (W)

Congress

Mumbai: A large number of Congressmen including long-time loyal party workers are upset with the way the party has been allocating its seats for the upcoming Assembly polls. Many allege that the party has been deliberately allocating seats to weaker candidates instead of strong and able ones who may have a chance at winning and can lead the party to victory.


The Congress as part of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance which includes the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Nationalist Congress Party (SP) appears to have limited access over which seats it can and cannot contest. Due to pressure from the alliance partners, the party was forced to let go of the seats of Byculla, Versova and Vile-Parle to Shiv Sena (UBT), which has led to unrest within the party workers. Added to that, workers point out that candidates which appear to have a strong track record of winning in these elections have been sidelined.


A Congressmen on conditions of anonymity cites an example of ex-Congress corporator Ravi Raja from Sion-Koliwada. He was denied an election ticket. Shamim Ansari from Byculla is another example. He too had toiled hard in the constituency. Both have been ignored despite their names making it to the final list of aspiring candidates.


“Raja has been a councilor for nearly five terms and an Opposition leader in the BMC. Despite 45 years of his service to the party his name was dropped at the last minute,” said a leader. “Ansari too does not have a chance anymore because that seat has now gone to the Sena”.

“A certain section of MLAs has fought vehemently for the Byculla and Versova seats but in vain. We were worried about the Bandra (West) constituency. The party does not give into pressure and allotted it to Asif Zakaria, a deserving candidate,” said another Congress leader.


This leader says Maharashtra may go the Haryana way for the Congress if things are not looked into and taken seriously.


Nizamuddin Rayen, Spokesperson for the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC), said that not much should be read into such things as they happen during elections. “The Congress is in a good position within the MVA. Every deserving candidate will get a ticket. Those who don’t get are bound to get upset but they need not worry as our leaders will speak to them and convince them that it is the betterment of the party,” he said.

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