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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.

Pawar had met Dawood, says Ambedkar

Updated: Oct 21, 2024

The BVA chief says Dawood had gifted a gold necklace to Pawar during their meeting


Pawar had met Dawood, says Ambedkar

Mumbai: In a sensational revelation, the Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar on Friday said that Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar had met Dawood Ibrahim on Dubai Airport when he was the Chief Minister.


Ambedkar also called for the release of historical records to understand whether the central government allowed Sharad Pawar to meet Dawood Ibrahim in Dubai during his time as Chief Minister.

Ambedkar pointed out that Sharad Pawar was Chief Minister from 1988 to 1991 and travelled abroad during that period. He further alleged that Pawar first went to London, then spent two days in California for a meeting.


“I have not made any allegations but I have just put forth some facts. From 1988 to 1991 Sharad Pawar was the Chief Minister and during that time he went to London and then went to California for a meeting. He came back to London and then went to Dubai. He met Dawood Ibrahim in Dubai. We are asking if the central government had sanctioned this meeting,” Ambedkar said.


Ambedkar insisted that the specifics of this meeting of Pawar with Dawood should be made public. Ambedkar went on to say that Pawar returned to London that evening and came back to India two days later. He also emphasised that, as Chief Minister, Pawar could not have travelled abroad without the central government’s approval and questioned whether the central government sanctioned Pawar’s trips and meetings, particularly with Dawood, and whether any reports from these meetings were submitted to the central government.


Ambedkar also claimed that Dawood had gifted a gold necklace to Sharad Pawar during their meeting at the Dubai airport.


“People will have to decide whether to vote for such parties to be able to maintain law and order in the state. I’m making these allegations now because it appears as if the conditions prevailing in the state between the decade of 1990 and 2000 are likely to come back to the state.”

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