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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.

Dynasty Descendants

Rebels, multi-cornered contests and dynasts – that’s the overriding theme of the Assembly elections that are coming up this month. Of the 4000 plus candidates in the fray, more than 20 are related to current and former politicians. No political party, despite making loadedstatements about not supporting dynasties, is an exception to this trend.


Dynasts, it is believed, have ‘elective value’ with a ready support base, dedicated cadre, the goodwill the family may carry in the constituency and a familiar surname. Sons, daughters, nephews, nieces and in-laws are making their electoral debut in an election which is being fought more on allegations, accusations and changing loyalties than an ideology or development plans. If some offspring remain in the relative’s party, others are trying their luck in different parties with even siblings being split by political alliances.


PART - 1


Rohit Patil, NCP (SP)

At 25, he is among the youngest candidates this time. A graduate in management studies, Rohit is banking on the immense goodwill earned by his father, R.R. Patil, or Aba, the former home minister of Maharashtra. Tasgaon Kavathe-Mahankal, the constituency his father represented since 1990, was later held by Rohit’s mother Suman after her husband’s death. Rohit has worked with the NCP (SP) and is earning political experience by working with milk cooperatives and local bodies in his constituency.


Yugendra Pawar, NCP (SP)

With the Pawar surname and his great uncle Sharad Pawar actively campaigning for him, Yugendra, 33, has got a dream start that debutante politicians can only dream of. A graduate in business administration from Boston, Yugendra must have grown up listening to stories of the state’s political landscape given that his father Shrinivas and uncle Ajit Pawar are known to be very close as siblings. In his first ever election, Yugendra is up against his uncle Ajit, a seasoned and influential politician.


Bhagyashree Atram, NCP (SP)

In what made for juicy political drama, the 43-year-old daughter for minister Dharmaraobaba Atram, who is now with Ajit Pawar’s NCP, defied her father to contest against him on an NCP (SP) ticket. She’s a former president of the Gadchiroli zilla parishad and with her nomination, the Atram family will see three members of the family contesting from the Aheri constituency from different political parties.


Chitralekha Patil, PWP

The 37-year-old daughter-in-law of Jayant Patil, president of the Peasants and Workers Party is the fourth generation member of her family to enter politics. She’s been running social and charitable activities and also leads the family-run educational institutes and recently was in the news for distributing 22000 bicycles to girls in the villages of Alibaug. She is contesting from Alibaug constituency.



Dr Babasaheb Annasaheb Deshmukh, PWP

After a bitter contest with the Shiv Sena (UBT) for the seat of Sangola, both, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the PWP have decided to contest. The PWP has nominated Dr Babasaheb Deshmukh, a medical doctor who has been running medical and charitable work in the area for several years now. He’s also the grandson of senior PWP leader Ganpatrao Deshmukh who was elected from the Sangola constituency in Solapur 11 times.

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