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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.

Mumbai Ferry Tragedy – A Straw That Needs to be Weighed

Updated: Dec 23, 2024

Mumbai Ferry Tragedy

Mumbai ferry incident on 18th Dec resulting in loss of over 13 lives reminds how imperfect things can get even in fair weather and broad day-light. It is a sad day for Mumbai ferry services which have been operating for over 100 years with a reasonably decent safety record. It is also a sad day for the Indian Navy, with CNS Admiral Dinesh K. Tripathi offering condolences and ordering an enquiry.


CAN OF WORMS

Indian maritime regulators (Directorate General of Shipping and State Maritime boards) should see this as a significant straw and not wait for the camel’s back to break.


MV Herald of Free enterprise (HOF) English channel passenger ferry, sank in a matter of 90 seconds killing 193 persons (passengers/crew) just about 0.7 Km from Zeebrugge berth (Belgium) in 1987. There seems to be a need to revisit and learn lessons from history.


Life saving appliance (Life jackets, Life boats, Life rafts etc) on board ships are designed for a ‘distress’ scenario or foreseeable worst case scenario and not for bizarre incidents such as this. The manner in which the high speed supposedly a Naval MARCOS boat hit the passenger ferry at about 60 km/hr speed (About 30 knots) is almost like a missile for the wooden tender boats. With just few seconds to act it is unlikely that passengers will be level headed in that moment of distress and wear life jackets with their head above their shoulders.


The fact that the boat had passengers in excess of their certified capacity is not something extra-ordinary East of the Suez. This however, does reflect the inadequate monitoring and control measures by Maharashtra Maritime Board, the authority which surveys a boat before a license is issued by Mumbai port trust.


Is it a case of poor accountability and responsibility by Mr Somebody, Mr Everybody, Mr Anybody OR Mr. NOBODY?


Upgrading the Kali Peeli Taxis of Mumbai Harbour

The incident is an eye opener and an opportunity for the age old kali peeli taxi's (wooden boats) of Mumbai harbour, operating for over 100 yrs, to be upgraded to modern fibre glass boats with AIS fitted on them for digital tracking, to match the 21st century Atal Setu trans harbour link bridge over the harbour.


Mumbai, India’s maritime hub, needs to set the trend and align with international standards for other Indian ports to follow.


Further as a matter of safety and good seamanship practice, all passengers travelling in boats which do not have life rafts and/or life boats, should don the life jackets prior boarding and hand-over at destination on or prior disembarking.


Cricket is to be played in Wankhede Stadium not Marine Drive Sea trails are conducted in open sea not in and around port channels where ships and boats are navigating and certainly not in Port limits.


Naval standards of safety are profound given the number of drills they conduct each day, thus giving a Safety talk to Naval personnel is like selling ice to an Eskimo. However, the claim of “double failure” of Engine and Steering is hard to swallow for any mariner.


Some questions that come to the mind of every mariner are:

- Who was at the Helm of the speed boat (experience and qualifications)?

- Why was Emergency STOP not activated if Engines were a problem?

- If steering was not working then how was the craft being manoeuvred in a zig-zag and circular manner prior impact, since this is not possible without a functional rudder?

- Who and how was permission given for sea trials in port limits?


Navy has a lot to answer, since this incident involves a civil craft (Boat) and civilian passengers, thus it will be prudent for Navy and investigators to come out with the facts. Any cover up is unlikely to remain under wraps for long. Thus if SOP’s have been ignored and if heads have to roll, then so be it.


American born safety research scientist William Heinrich would be turning in his grave if his 1931 accident triangle theory is ignored.


(The author is a Shipping and Marine consultant. Member Singapore Shipping Association and empanelled with IMO as a specialist consultant. View personal.)

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