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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.

Inside story on Shinde’s delayed toll tax waiver

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

Shinde

Mumbai: While terming the decision to exempt light motor vehicles from toll tax at Mumbai Entry Points (MEP) Chief Minister Eknath Shinde described the scheme as “Mukhya Mantri Ladka Pravasi Yojana” (CM favourite traveller scheme). He also said that this was a long-standing demand and as an MLA he had even staged demonstrations to push for the demand. He however fell short of telling the people what prevented the government from making the decision earlier.


“There had been a long-standing demand to end the toll tax at all the five Mumbai Entry Points. The toll collection process leads to traffic snarls on these entry gates and leads to more pollution. Hence, abolition of toll had been in demand for a long time. As an MLA I too had staged demonstration and even moved court against the toll collection,” the CM told reporters.


“I am happy today that the decision we have made shall benefit lakhs of commuters that include people from middle class also. This shall save time and fuel and save the people from pollution. This shall help people not just from Mumbai and surrounding areas but from across the Maharashtra who come to Mumbai,” he said.


However, what he didn’t tell today was why did the decision took so long.


The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under Devendra Fadnavis had promised a “toll free” state in the party manifesto before the 2014 assembly elections. However, after the government was formed, PWD – the department that looks after the collection of toll tax went to the Shiv Sena. Incidentally, Eknath Shinde was given charge of the PWD department back then. So, it was much under his control to waive off the toll. However, it took him almost 10 years and the decision was made only in the last few days of his government.


Why would he have done so?

According to a former official with the Maharashtra Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) Shinde had put up a proposal of scrapping the toll tax in the first meeting itself. However, then Managing Director of MSRDC Radheshyam Mopalwar had advised Shinde against abolition of toll tax. “It will be akin to cutting the branch of the tree in the Sheikh Chilli story,” Mopalwar whispered in Shinde’s ears.

The official had contended that toll is the one of the plum sources of the income for the state government and keeping such sources in hand yields much power in the government. Shinde obeyed the advice and didn’t do much on the front except doing away with some of the toll plazas on non-prime routes across the state.


According to Union Ministry for Road Transport and Highways, the income from tolls for Maharashtra is expected to be around Rs 1.40 lakh crore by the end of 2024. One can imagine the political power this much of money can buy.

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