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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.

Lording Over Satellite City

In the nineties, Ganesh Naik was a formidable name in Belapur who enjoyed the mass support of the local community, especially the aagris. As a Shiv ‘Sainik’, he helped the party grow its base in the area and is known to have single-handedly run the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) or years with an iron fist, decimating opposition. In 2009, he quit the Sena to join the NCP with scores of his supporters following him into the party. But for a man who views political supremacy and electoral winnability as the most important criteria for a career in politics, he moved to the BJP exactly after a decade in 2019. He had lost the assembly elections in 2014 probably in the famous ‘Modi Wave’. Until then, Naik had been on a mega winning spree. AT that time, he took along almost 50 corporators from the municipal corporation, which underscores the value he brings to a party. Naik has proudly claimed to have controlled the NMMC since its inception in 1992.


Naik entered the state assembly in 1994 when he won from Thane with a record margin. It was the time when the Shiv Sena’s Anand Dighe was a formidable force in Thane and Naik got the support of the party cadre. After his fall-out with the Sena in 1999, he joined the NCP and won twice from Airoli. It is said Dighe had opposed him after the initial term. Naik has held several key portfolios in the state government including labour, environment and forests and the lucrative excise department. He was credited with introducing the concept of a Janata Darbar during his time with the Shiv Sena where, as a minister, he would routinely meet people, lend them a helping ear and solve their problems.


His sons Sandeep and Sanjeev are also active in the politics of Belapur-Airoli. Sanjeev became the first and the youngest mayor of the NMMC after its formation in 1992. In 2009, Sanjeev won the Parliamentary elections from Thane on an NCP ticket.


Naik’s other son Sandeep began his career as a corporator in the NMMC which his father unofficially controlled for decades. He was also elected unopposed as the chairman of the standing committee of NMMC. HE rose to prominence after winning the 2009 assembly elections. The family runs several social initiatives in the region of Belapur-Airoli.


In 2024, the father-son duo threatened to quit the BJP if both weren’t given a nomination for the assembly elections. They were considering the NCP (SP) and the Shiv Sena (UBT). Given their political clout, the BJP nominated both, Ganesh and Sandeep to avoid losing ground in the area.

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