top of page

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.

Flexible Equality

Public policy often begins with a gesture. On the occasion of the recent International Women’s Day, the Maharashtra government unveiled a symbolic initiative aimed at easing the daily burdens faced by working women. The announcement came from Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar, who introduced the ‘Come Early Go Early’ scheme for female government employees in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.


By this, women employees may choose to arrive at their offices between 9.15 a.m. and 9.45 a.m. and leave correspondingly earlier by the same number of minutes. The reasoning behind it is straightforward enough: commuting during peak hours in and around Mumbai is a formidable ordeal, particularly for women who must navigate packed trains, buses and platforms.


Few would quarrel with the spirit of the proposal. Anyone who has witnessed the daily crush on the suburban railway platforms of Mumbai understands the problem. The city’s public transport system operates at the very edge of capacity. For women commuters the experience can be particularly taxing. Safety concerns, physical strain and the sheer density of crowds make the journey to work a daily trial.


By recognising this reality, policymakers are acknowledging a dimension of gender inequality that is often overlooked. In many households women also shoulder a disproportionate share of domestic responsibilities, be it caring for children, managing households and tending to elderly relatives. A few minutes saved in the daily commute can therefore matter more than it appears on paper.


Yet good intentions in public policy must also withstand the test of fairness. A scheme designed exclusively for women risks creating a curious paradox: a measure meant to promote equality might inadvertently introduce a new form of distinction in the workplace. If congestion and commuting stress are the underlying problems, they are not experienced by women alone. Men who crowd into the same trains and buses endure similar discomfort. Many of them too juggle family responsibilities, childcare and long travel times.


Extending the option of flexible arrival and departure to all employees would therefore make the policy more robust. The principle behind the scheme, of reducing the strain of peak-hour travel, is universal. Making it gender-neutral would avoid the impression that flexibility is a privilege reserved for one group rather than a practical solution for everyone.


There are pragmatic reasons for such an approach as well. Modern workplaces increasingly recognise the value of flexible schedules. Staggered office timings can spread commuter traffic more evenly across the day, easing pressure on transport networks. They may also improve productivity, allowing employees to tailor their work hours to the realities of urban life. In a metropolis as vast and congested as Mumbai, such incremental adjustments can have surprisingly large benefits.


The scheme is therefore a welcome beginning. The next step should be to widen its scope. True equality in public policy lies not merely in helping one group, but in designing solutions that recognise the realities faced by all.

Comments

bottom of page