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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.

Is the NCP (SP) thawing its Maratha party image?

Pawar’s party reaching out to various communities to break the Mahayuti vote

NCP

Mumbai: Sharad Pawar’s election war room is buzzing with data on caste formations, equations and numbers. His selection of candidates reflects just that—the party’s shrewd strategy to reach out to communities and castes that have, until now, viewed the NCP (SP) as a party of the Marathas. Uttaramrao Jankar’s presence during Pawar’s tours also cannot be missed; he’s a prominent face of the Dhangar community that is currently expressing its discontentment. The party’s new approach aims to address the changing political landscape in Maharashtra, where various communities seek representation.


The long-standing Maratha reservation agitation and the demand of Dhangars to be included under the Scheduled Tribes list have upset the caste arithmetic of most parties. “We are ensuring that we are not anathema to any community,” says an NCP (SP) leader. He says that the party is trying to wean away at least a slice of the pie that constitutes the MADHAV grouping, which the BJP, for long, has relied on. The grouping including the Mali, Dhangar and Vanjari communities.


A notable example of how the party is selecting its candidates to balance its caste outreach is Sandeep Kshirsagar. The 43-year-old OBC leader has been fielded from Beed, once again, despite the region being on the boil with the Manoj Jarange-Patil’s Maratha reservation agitation.


Kshirsagar’s house was set on fire allegedly by Maratha protestors earlier and only a few months ago, Pankaja Munde, an OBC leader, had lost to her Maratha opponent. Two days ago, Kshirsagar called on Jarange-Patil, promising to take up the cause. “Sandeep is young and an OBC and could be groomed to be the next Chhagan Bhujbal, the party’s OBC face,” says a party leader.


Similarly, the party has picked UttamraoJankar from Malshiras to appeal to the Dhangars that are reportedly upset with the government for ignoring its demands. For long, the OBCs, as a chunk, relied on the BJP, thanks to Gopinath Munde who rose to become the party’s most prominent OBC leader, a legacy that cousins Pankaja and Dhananjay are competing to claim. “The community has so far looked at the BJP to rely on. But we want to convince them that we aren’t a bad alternative,” says an NCP (SP) leader. With a Maratha leading the Mahayuti government, the BJP’s claims of being OBC-friendly have started diminishing. To add to their woes, the Maratha community is moving farther away from the party. “The BJP has relied on the MADHAV formula which we are trying to break. While it may not greatly benefit us, preventing these communities from voting as a block will also be helpful,” he says.


While Muslim have traditionally opted for the Congress and the NCP almost en masse, the NCP (SP) is projecting Fahad Ahmad as a young, urban, vocal Muslim face to replace Nawab Mallik whose appeal among the youth was fast diminishing anyway.


By w.elcoming leaders from different backgrounds, Pawar is looking to create a more inclusive party that can resonate with diverse voter groups. This move also helps in countering the influence of other regional and national parties, particularly in areas such as Beed and Marathwada where non-Maratha communities are significant.

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