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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Gas crunch reaches Mumbai’s high-rise

Mahanagar Gas cuts PNG supply by 50 pc; biz hit Mumbai : Delivering another shock, the Mahanagar Gas Ltd. on Saturday mandated all commercial users to draw only 50 pc of their piped natural gas (PNG) supply with a warning of steep fines and abrupt cut in connection for violators, sending shockwaves in the industry.   This comes barely 48 hours after its first missive (March 12) imposing a 20 per cent  cut in PNG offtake by commercial users, which hit the bakery industry hard, amid...

Gas crunch reaches Mumbai’s high-rise

Mahanagar Gas cuts PNG supply by 50 pc; biz hit Mumbai : Delivering another shock, the Mahanagar Gas Ltd. on Saturday mandated all commercial users to draw only 50 pc of their piped natural gas (PNG) supply with a warning of steep fines and abrupt cut in connection for violators, sending shockwaves in the industry.   This comes barely 48 hours after its first missive (March 12) imposing a 20 per cent  cut in PNG offtake by commercial users, which hit the bakery industry hard, amid  speculation that lakhs of domestic PNG users may be affected next.   The MGL’s directives follow a central order (March 9), calling upon all commercial users to restrict their PNG consumption to only 50 pc of their average usage over the past six months.   The revised rules within 48 hours sent fresh shockwaves among the already panicked commercial PNG users, triggering apprehensions that even domestic consumers may feel the heat with likely ‘rationing’ of their convenient piped fuel connections.   “The gas curtailment is around 50 pc for industrial customers and 20 pc for commercial customers to maintain continuous gas supply to our CNG stations and domestic PNG customers,” a company spokesperson told  The Perfect Voice , justifying its ‘force majeure’ intimations.   Price Revision In its first order, the MGL had indicated a revision in PNG prices due to “gas pooling” arrangements, with the final rates to be announced after consultations with suppliers and the government.   Today, it willy-nilly unveiled the potential harsh hike in the rates of PNG: “We have been informed that any gas drawal by MGL exceeding permissible levels will attract a gas price of Rs 138/Standard Cubic Metre plus VAT.”   Accordingly, all commercial users have been warned that from Friday (March 13), if they cross the threshold limits (50 pc), they will be charged Rs 138/SCM  (Rs. 4091.21/MMBTU), and further usage above the permissible limits would lead to abrupt disconnection of supplies.   Piped Gas Presently, the MGL has over 30-lakh households using PNG in Mumbai and Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), besides 5,200-plus commercial-industrial clients spread in multiple sectors, wholly dependent on piped gas connections.   Additionally, it runs 471-plus CNG stations and supplies it to more than 12-lakh vehicles including public and private transport, with plans to cover large urbanized pockets of Raigad district by 2029   Some of its bulk users include: Godrej Industries Ltd., Larsen & Toubro, Hindalco, several five-star hotels, IT companies, medicare like Asian Heart Institute or Lilavati Hospital, pharmaceutical industry, food and beverages, etc.   Home-makers howl An online achievement school ‘Multiversity of Success’ Founder Dr. Rekhaa Kale (Sion) said if the PNG cuts reach homes, it will disrupt the lives of millions of Mumbaikars. “Now, I regret giving up my LPG cylinders 10 years ago for the PM-Urja scheme, it could have been a life-saver today,” grumbled Dr. Kale.   A private nurse Kirron V. (Dahisar) rued that the real impact of gas shortage will be visible in Mumbai if domestic PNG supplies are also hit. “The so-called elite living in airconditioned high-rises sniggered and ‘looked down’ upon those sweating it out in snaky queues for a LPG cylinder,” she said sarcastically.   As the Gulf War entered the 15 th  day today, the FHRAWI-AHAR Vice-President Pradeep Shetty and other major organisations have repeatedly slammed the government for the acute short supply of LPG leading to chaos all over.

Raj steals thunder; Uddhav repeats taunts

Pic: Bhushan Koyande
Pic: Bhushan Koyande

Mumbai: Sounding a loud alarm for Mumbai, the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) launched a blistering attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Adani Group, alleging a systematic attempt to capture Mumbai’s assets and wealth, marginalize the Marathi population and weaken Maharashtra.

 

The Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) leader Jayant R. Patil, besides Aditya Thackeray and other speakers made a desperate appeal to the voters to ‘choose wisely’ in the January 15 BMC elections.

 

Stealing the thunder, Raj said that last year’s compulsory Hindi push was a “test”, intended to check whether Maharashtra’s people were still alert. “That experiment proved why we needed to come together. No squabble is bigger than Maharashtra,” Raj said, referring to his reunion with Uddhav Thackeray after two decades.

 

Painting  a grim picture of present-day rulers and previous regimes, Raj said that despite Congress and other parties ruling for years, fear never dominated public life.

“Today, 66 corporators have been elected unopposed. People are being deprived of their right to vote, and this number will only rise,” he warned.

 

Both Raj and Uddhav slammed the BJP for increasingly giving tickets to criminals, drug peddlers and rape accused, eroding democracy at its roots.


Mumbai For Sale

Claiming that Mumbai is ‘up for sale’, Raj cited data collected by his research team to highlight the dramatic expansion of Gautam Adani’s business empire after 2014 – when Narendra Modi became Prime Minister.

 

Pointing to Maharashtra specifically, Raj claimed that Adani Group had just one unit here in 2014, which has since multiplied rapidly, listing multiple mega-projects in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region being handled by the Gautam Adani-led conglomerate.

 

He spoke of a long-term strategy to “break Mumbai away” from Maharashtra by dividing districts, voters and civic bodies, while bringing in outsiders at the cost of locals. “Marathis are being pushed into a minority in their own city - without homes, jobs or identity,” he warned.

 

Explaining the intense fight for civic bodies, Raj said control of local governments prevents the sale of land and public wealth without local consent, and called upon the voters to make the right choice.

 

Mewa-bhau

Terming it as a decisive final battle for Mumbai and MMR, Uddhav took a potshot at Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, calling him a “Mewa-bhau”. He accused the BJP of dividing Mumbai and the Marathi community while hollowing out the city’s institutions and finances.

 

“They say they want a ‘Hindu Marathi Mayor’. We said we will give a Marathi Mayor. The BJP is deliberately fragmenting Marathis by mixing religion into civic politics.

 

“We (Thackeray cousins) have come together only for Maharashtra, Mumbai and Marathis. These civic elections will decide our future. If we don’t act now, it will be too late,” he urged.

 

“We have fought many elections. We’ve won many, lost some. The BJP can ally with anyone all over India, but now they don’t want Shiv Sena,” he said.

 

Lashing out at the BJP for its repeated attacks on the ‘Thackeray brand’, Uddhav said sharply: “You question us, but you are nothing more than ‘band-masters’ of Modi.”

 

Both cousins vowed to move forward guided by Balasaheb Thackeray’s teachings, and dismissed the BJP’s claims of nationalism and concern for the poor as ‘fake Hindutva’, with Uddhav declaring: “I kick such patriotism.”

 

He even dared Fadnavis to have a public debate with him or Aditya Thackeray on Mumbai’s issues. “They ask what Shiv Sena did for Mumbai. Look around – and our work is visible in healthcare, education, infrastructure, water supply, sewerage,” he said.

 

The cousins attacked the BJP for emptying the coffers of Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, and diverting public attention from real civic issues to keep filling up Adani’s coffers.

 

Accusing the BJP of promoting criminals, goons, rapists and drug peddlers while fuelling caste and religious divisions, the duo said they ‘reject’ such politics, and exhorted  the people to decide as its final call for the future of Mumbai, Marathis and Maharashtra.

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