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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.

NCP (SP) banks on Awhad for Muslim outreach

Updated: Oct 30, 2024

Jitendra Awhad has won Mumbra, a seat with a majority Muslim population, since 2009 but is now facing a challenge from his own former colleague


Awhad

Mumbai: When Sharad Pawar joined a mega procession to accompany Jitendra Awhad for filing his nomination form, it was a signal to the cadre and the electorate---that Awhad had the full support and backing of the party and of Pawar, in particular. It was also a repeat of 2019 when the president of the undivided NCP was present alongside Awhad as he filed his nomination. This year, the symbolism of the gesture is even more. Especially since Awhad’s constituency Mumbra-Kalwa falls in Thane, the home district of Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde. And opposing Awhad is his former party colleague Najeeb Mulla who represents Ajit Pawar’s NCP.


It’s no secret that Awhad is favoured by his party leadership for his fiery ways and his success is winning the Mumbra constituency for his party since 2009. Once a student activist who had famously protested against a hike in college tuition fees in 1982, the MLA from Mumbra is fiesty, outspoken and blunt. He doesn’t shy away from controversies and enjoys a close rapport and unrestricted access to his party boss, Pawar. He’s among those who stayed loyal even when the party split in 2023.


While the party says that Pawar’s presence at the large procession is a way of acknowledging and appreciating the “nishthavant” leaders of the party, Awhad also represents the NCP (SP)’s outreach and support to the Muslim community, having represented Mumbra-Kalwa three times in the state assembly. The constituency has been held by the NCP since 2009 and is believed to have a 75 per cent Muslim population and political analysts say that they key to winning this seat is to have a leader who enjoys the Muslim and the Marathi vote. Which Awhad has proved for over 15 years now.


In 2014, Awhad polled more than 86000 votes which was greater than the collective tally of all 16 of his opponents. A few months before the elections, Pawar had spent an entire day in that constituency, meeting and energising the party cadre and inaugurating infrastructure development and beautification projects that were conceptualised by Awhad.


Apart from development works, Awhad is known for his blunt statements and vociferous support to the local community. Just before the opening of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, he courted controversy by stating that Lord Ram ate beef.


This year, he challenged the Ghaziabad police to prove their claims that more than 400 children were being forcibly converted to Islam through gaming apps and the mastermind of the racket was allegedly in Mumbra. “Jitendra Awhad is a tireless voice for protecting the secular fabric of our state and our nation. When an elderly Muslim man was beaten up on a train to Mumbai on suspicions of carrying beef, it was his intervention that ensured the Railway Police cancelled the bail of the accused and charged them under mob lynching sections,” says Anish Gawande, national spokesperson of the NCP (SP).


It is said that until now, Shinde and Awhad had a tacit understanding for this constituency which falls under Shrikant Shinde’s Lok Sabha seat. But the Shinde-led Mahayuti is now on a mission to unseat Awhad and capture control of this constituency. Shinde is believed to have deputed several corporators and partymen to fan the area and drum up support. The contest also may not be a cakewalk with a former corporator and a Muslim leader fighting against Awhad.

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