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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 gimmick behind Malik’s forced candidature

Updated: Oct 30, 2024

The Mahayuti is trying to clean the tainted NCP leader by pitting him against controversial Abu Azmi

Abu Azmi

Mumbai: Though the BJP and its leaders vociferously opposing candidature of NCP leader Nawab Malik for the November 20 Assembly election, it is now revealed that pitting Malik against Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi is a game plan of Mahayuti leaders.


After deciding to stay with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP after the split, Malik suddenly announced his decision to contest the election from a neighbouring constituency. Now, he is entering the fray from the Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar assembly seat against Samajwadi Party leader Azmi. This has raised many eyebrows in the political circle and the BJP leader Ashish Shelar promptly reacted and said that his party is against the candidature of NCP leader Nawab Malik.


Malik, who has been representing the Anushakti Nagar constituency, will be replaced by his daughter, Sana Shaikh, who was earlier part of Sharad Pawar’s faction after the split, but has now decided to join her father. NCP has announced Sana’s candidature from Anushakti Nagar. This will be her electoral debut. Nevertheless, Malik contesting from Anushakti Nagar is a calculated move of the Mahayuti leaders.


According to sources, the leaders of Shiv Sena, BJP and the NCP strongly feel that Malik is the only person who can check Abu Asim Azmi who is representing Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar for the last three terms. Ajit Pawar himself gave the nod to Malik’s candidature, sources added.


Interestingly, Malik was in the Samajwadi Party for several years.


The population of the Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar Assembly constituency is predominantly Muslim and believed to be around 58 percent. Maharashtrians, North Indians, South Indians and Dalits form the remaining 42 percent. Against this backdrop Malik is being regarded as a tough opponent for Azmi. The Samajwadi neta comfortably won the seat even when the Narendra Modi wave swept the country in 2014. In the last election, Azmi’s victory margin was 25,613 votes. Malik has made it clear that he will submit the nomination papers on October 29.


Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Friday named Sana Malik as the candidate for the Anushakti Nagar assembly constituency. Sana Mailk’s candidature strengthens chances of Nawab Malik contesting the polls from the Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar constituency as an independent candidate.


Malik was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the case involving alleged land and money transactions between an underworld don and him. At the time, Nawab Malik was the most powerful spokesperson of the undivided NCP led by Sharad Pawar. After a prolonged legal battle, Malik was released on medical bail. During the Nagpur session of the state legislature when Malik was seen in the legislature party office, Devendra Fadnavis had written a letter to Ajit Pawar saying he should not be entertained since he has links with the underworld. Then Fadnavis had expressed strong displeasure over the entire episode.


Nawab Malik refused to elaborate over his decision to contest the election from Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar. “I am going to file the nomination on Monday,” he said. “The people of Shivaji Nagar-Mankhurd are fed up of the drug menace. I will contest the election from there and win.”

If Malik indeed wins all the blots on him will vanish.

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