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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.

Fatal Mismanagement

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

At least five lives were lost and around 100 people hospitalized following the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) much-publicized air show in Chennai this Sunday. The event, which aimed to mobilize 1.5 million spectators in an attempt to enter the Limca Book of Records, was plagued by poor planning, extreme heat, and woeful crowd control. One man, suffering from sunstroke, even collapsed while riding his bike after being caught in gridlock for over an hour. The IAF’s push for large numbers and the Chennai City Police’s ineffective traffic management are now under scrutiny.

The Chennai tragedy is part of a disturbing pattern in India’s handling of mass gatherings. Last year, a similar tragedy unfolded during the Maharashtra Bhushan Award ceremony in Navi Mumbai, where 13 people died from heatstroke while attending an outdoor function on a blistering April day. The event, which drew a crowd of 300,000, saw hundreds succumb to heat-related illnesses. Provisions for shade were limited to a select few dignitaries and VIPs, leaving the majority of attendees vulnerable to the scorching heat.

These incidents underscore a chronic failure in crowd management at India’s mega events, where spectacle is prioritized over safety. Whether it is a religious gathering like the Kumbh Mela, a political rally, or a public celebration, the safety of attendees is often an afterthought. Organizers and authorities routinely underestimate the risks posed by overcrowding, extreme heat, and insufficient infrastructure.

India’s fragmented governance structure exacerbates these risks. The responsibilities for crowd control are often split between various authorities, resulting in poor coordination and inadequate preparation. In the Chennai case, the IAF’s push to break records clashed with the local police’s inability to handle the influx of spectators. In Navi Mumbai, even the presence of high-ranking officials such as Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde did not translate into better planning or more robust safety measures.

The consequences of such negligence are often blamed on fate or uncontrollable forces, but the reality is mismanagement. Heatstroke, dehydration, and crowd crushes are preventable with the right measures in place. Simple provisions like adequate water stations, shaded areas, and clear evacuation routes could make the difference between life and death.

Countries like Saudi Arabia, which hosts millions for the Hajj pilgrimage each year, have invested in sophisticated crowd control systems that include real-time monitoring and emergency response plans. India, with its frequent large-scale events, must adopt similar strategies. Without proper planning and infrastructure, tragedies like those in Chennai and Navi Mumbai will continue to unfold, with innocent lives lost as a result.

Only by placing human lives above record-breaking ambitions can India hope to prevent these deadly disasters in the future.

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