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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.

Of Statues and Security Breaches

Updated: Jan 29, 2025

The AAP-led government in Punjab appears to be walking a tightrope, with simmering controversies raising questions about its role in straining Centre-State relations.

Punjab
Punjab

The damage inflicted on a statue of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in Amritsar has unleashed a chain of events that underscores the fragility of Punjab’s political fabric. While the immediate outrage stemmed from an isolated act of vandalism by a youth, the political ripples extend far beyond. The incident has drawn Dalit organizations, opposition parties, and even the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) into its vortex, each interpreting the episode in ways that align with their own narratives. At the center of this turbulence is the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), whose leadership now faces mounting scrutiny over whether it is fanning these flames in a bid to disturb Centre-State relations.


The episode began with the arrest of Akash Singh, a young man from the Scheduled Caste community, who brazenly damaged the statue and a replica of the Constitution on Amritsar’s Heritage Street. His actions sparked widespread protests from Dalit organizations, culminating in a citywide bandh. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s immediate condemnation and promise of strict action were swift, but the deeper political undertones were hard to ignore. The protests, which brought traffic to a standstill in key cities like Amritsar and Jalandhar, served as a potent reminder of the volatile social undercurrents in Punjab.


Adding fuel to the fire, former BJP Union Minister Vijay Sampla’s remarks linking the vandalism to the Golden Temple area drew sharp rebuttals from Sikh leaders, including the SGPC.


However, it is the broader question of Centre-State dynamics that looms large over this incident. AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal’s recent outburst over the replacement of Punjab Police personnel in his security detail with Gujarat Police officers raises eyebrows. The deployment of Gujarat personnel, part of routine Election Commission protocols ahead of Delhi’s municipal polls, was publicly criticized by Kejriwal, who questioned the timing and intent behind the move. While Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghvi defended the deployment as standard procedure, Kejriwal’s selective targeting of Gujarat betrays a deeper strategy to fan regional insecurities.


This is not the first time Punjab has found itself at the heart of a Centre-State controversy. In 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s convoy was stranded on a highway for over 20 minutes during a visit to Punjab, prompting accusations of a security lapse by the then-Congress government. The BJP at the time had claimed the breach reflected “murderous intentions,” a charge that then Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi had vehemently denied. Visuals of the Prime Minister’s armoured convoy surrounded by Special Protection Group personnel remain a stark reminder of the precariousness of security arrangements in the state.


Punjab’s political leadership, whether under Congress or AAP, has shown a proclivity for positioning itself as a bulwark against perceived central overreach. This posture, while electorally advantageous in a state with a strong federalist ethos, risks deepening divisions between Punjab and the Union government. AAP’s governance style, marked by frequent clashes with the Centre, appears to thrive on such confrontations. The Ambedkar statue controversy, while seemingly unrelated to these broader tensions, has been opportunistically weaponized by political actors to amplify their grievances.


The sight of protests disrupting daily life in Amritsar and Jalandhar, and the spectacle of political leaders trading barbs over procedural deployments, detracts from pressing governance challenges. Punjab continues to grapple with economic stagnation, drug abuse and a precarious fiscal situation, all of which demand cooperative federalism rather than conflict.


For the AAP, which governs both Punjab and Delhi, the challenge lies in balancing its populist instincts with the responsibilities of governance. Repeated confrontations with the Centre risks eroding its credibility as a party capable of delivering on its promises. The incidents in Punjab, from the statue vandalism to the controversy over security protocols, highlight the need for mature leadership that prioritizes stability over spectacle.

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