top of page

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.

Passing On The Baton

For this first time since 1995, Katol will see a new face seeking votes from the people. Days after Anil Deshmukh, who has represented the constituency since 1995, was named by the NCP (SP) as its candidate from this Vidarbha seat, the party replaced his nomination with that of his son, Salil. The reasons are best known to the Deshmukh family and the party. Insiders claim that the son’s insistence and desire to make his electoral debut forced Deshmukh to convince his party. But the former home minister claimed that the Mahayuti was finding technical reasons to disqualify his nomination Salil Deshmukh, son of former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, is contesting the polls from the constituency that his father has represented for the past three decades. The father-son duo has been campaigning hard in the sweltering October heat. The stakes are high for the family; in 2021, the senior Deshmukh was arrested on charges of corruption and jailed for 13 months. He had to resign earlier following allegations of misusing his position for money laundering.


Deshmukh began his political career in Nagpur as chairman of the Nagpur Zilla Parishad as a Congressman. In 1995, he rebelled against Congress party leadership after he was denied a ticket and contested as an Independent candidate and won. That year, he lent support to the Shiv Sena-BJP government and was made the minister of state for education. When Sharad Pawar launched the NCP in 1999, Deshmukh joined him and held various positions in the government such as the minister for school education, information, sports, public works, excise and civil supplies, among other key departments. In 2014, he lost the legislative assembly elections to his nephew Ashish Deshmukh. Five years later, he returned to the council of ministers when the MVA formed the government and was given charge of the all-important home ministry.


His career saw reforms in education and the setting up of the Maharashtra Bhushan Award but was marred by serious charges of corruption in 2021 when he was forced to resign. Deshmukh stayed with the NCP (SP) during the split in the party affirmed his loyalty to the party. His nomination from Katol in the NCP (SP)’s first list was seen as an affirmation of his party’s faith in him.

Comments

bottom of page