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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.

'Players are made of steel, outside noise doesn't affect'

Updated: Jan 6, 2025

Rohit Sharma

Sydney: Rohit Sharma is still wired to the team despite opting to stand down, as the senior batter exhorted his India teammates to shut down outside noises and rumours to focus on winning the ongoing fifth Test against Australia that will help them retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.


India came to the Sydney Test, trailing 1-2 in the series and their position was made even more precarious by the swirling gossips around Rohit's possible retirement.


"It (rumours) doesn't affect us because the players here are made of steel. We have tried our best to make players like this. See, we can't control certain things, and we don't want to fret about those things. We don't want to waste time on it," Rohit told Star Sports.


"Let it happen (the leaks). What can we do about it? Just focus on winning the match and getting better in our game, that's what we want to do.

"Everyone wants to go there and win the match. Look at the crowd here, look at their involvement. We all want to shut them (rumours) down. Tell me, which other team has won series here twice? We have the golden opportunity to.. not win the series, but can draw it now. We want to retain the trophy."


I've come here to play, not sit outside

However, Rohit admitted that the decision to stand down from the New Year Test was tough from a personal level.

"Sometimes, it is very tough. I have come so far here to play. I have not come to wait outside. I want to play. I have to win. When I came to the dressing room on the first day in 2007, I have always said that I have to win the match. The team has to win the match," he said.


For Rohit, the decision was a part of his trait that always placed the team first.


"Sometimes you have to understand what the team needs. If you don't keep the team ahead, then it is of no use. if you play for yourself, make your own runs, what will that do? If you don't think about the team, you don't want those kind of players. Eleven people are playing, so, it is a team. Whatever the team's need is, try to do that.


"This is my personal thinking. That is how I have played my cricket. That is how I am in life in general. It is not that I am trying to show something else. What I am is visible. If someone doesn't like it, then forgive me. I do what I think is right. What is there to be afraid of?"


Won't doubt myself because of criticism

Rohit accepted that he will be criticised if a decision goes wrong but asserted that it will not force him to deviate from his methods.


"In leadership, you have to accept that you will not have good days all the time. Ideas and your mindset are the same. The captaincy that I was doing 5-6 months ago, it is same ideology and thought process. But sometimes, the result does not come," he said.


"I know that 140 crore people will judge us. That is what it is. I don't want to doubt myself. I know what I am doing is right. I don't want to change my methodology about captaincy.


"I can also be wrong. Yesterday, if I decided that I should have batted in Sydney but actually, I should have bowled. It can be wrong but it does not mean that your thinking is bad."


"I am there now, Bumrah is there, before that Virat was there and MS Dhoni was there. No one has got it in a plate. No one should get it like that. Let them work hard.

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