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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.

‘Maha govt destroyed environment’

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former environment minister Aaditya Thackeray on Friday slammed the BJP Mahayuti government in the state while accusing it of destroying the environment for want of monetary gains. He also raised questions over effects of climate change seen in Mumbai and most parts of Maharashtra while urging the government to take an immediate action on such issues.


“The government is not taking climate change seriously. We are not opposed to development, but we are committed to protecting the climate. We are against the vinash (destruction), not against vikas (development),” Thackeray said while addressing a press conference.


He stated that the state government is “destroying jungles and environment” which, he added, is crucial for the arrival of monsoon season. He also said that his party is “not against development, but the destruction.”

Thackeray criticised the decisions made by the State Wildlife Board under the leadership of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at its meeting yesterday. The board, in its 24th meeting yesterday, had granted forest and wildlife related clearances to the Gargai reservoir project which is said to be crucial for water supply to Mumbai.


Thackeray said that the decision will result in the felling of thousands of trees.


Accusing the state government of “playing with the future”, Thackeray said that the approval of the Gargai dam project in Palghar would result in the felling of nearly five lakh trees.


“Yesterday, during a meeting of the State Wildlife Board, the Chief Minister decided on many things, which would result in the felling of trees in lakhs. Nearly 5 lakh trees would be cut to build a dam that will provide Mumbai with 450 MLD of water. They are destroying jungles and the environment, which are responsible for the rains. This is a money game. They are playing with our future,” he said.


“We are seeing what climate change means. We can see it unfolding before us,” he added.


Furthermore, Thackeray raised concerns about the rising temperatures in April, reaching 40 degrees Celsius, stating that this hasn't been witnessed before.


“Maharashtra has recorded temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius, and this is in April. The government didn't cross the 400 mark, but the temperatures have increased by over 40 degrees Celsius. We have never witnessed this before,” the former environment minister said.


“In Mumbai, the water problem is a huge issue. The BJP has not solved this issue. CM has not solved this issue. We held a protest on this (issue), but police detained our party workers,” Thackeray added.


Interestingly, on questions related to state government’s decision to start teaching Hindi as third language in schools from first standard, Thacekray remained non-committal.

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