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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.

The Family Politicians

Updated: Nov 12, 2024

Nimbalkar

In the affluent western belt of Maharashtra, the erstwhile princely state town of Phaltan has seen the Nimbalkar family being split vertically. Erstwhile nobility, the two parts of the family has been engaged in a feud over establishing and retaining political supremacy in the area.


The most prominent among them is Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar, a former minister who is also the former chairman of the legislative council. A post graduate in science and law, he was known to be a fine cricketer during his college days. Ramraje taught law at the ILS college in Pune but later moved to his hometown to head the Phaltan Education Society where he continued teaching law along with leading the educational institutes.


On one hand is Hindurao Naik Nimbalkar whose son Ranjeetsinh is a former BJP MP from Madha. On the other side are Ramraje and brother Sanjeevraje who heads Govind, the dairy and milk products business.


Ramraje joined politics in 1991 and became chairman of the municipal council. He then contested the assembly election and became an independent MLA in 1995. He supported the Manohar Joshi led Shiv Sena BJP government on the condition of bringing water to drought-prone areas in his district. With his efforts, he played a key role in the Krishna Valley Development Corporation which he led as the vice chairman. He later was appointed as the vice chairman of the state planning commission.


His grandfather Malojiraje Naik-Nimbalkar was the family’s first member in active politics. He was the minister in Morarji Desai’s cabinet and had the portfolios of PWD and irrigation with him. Records show that the construction work of the present day Mantralaya building was executed during Malojiraje’s tenure as the PWD minister in Maharashtra .


The family is connected to politicians by marriage as well. Ramraje’s daughter is married to Rahul Narwekar, Speaker in the Maharashtra Assembly in the outgoing legislature. He began his career as a Shiv Sena corporator from Mumbai but moved to the NCP and unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections from Maval. He then shifted to the BJP and entered the Legislative Assembly and was appointed the speaker in 2023.


Ramraje and Sanjeevraje went with Ajit Pawar when the NCP split last year. Last month, Sanjeevraje, chairman of the NCP in Satara district, returned to Sharad Pawar while his brother has remained with Ajit but has refused to actively campaign for his party.

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