Many restaurants in Maharashtra`s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar have curtailed their menus or are planning to switch to dishes that can be cooked using wood or coal, while a few have shut down, owners told news agency PTI on Thursday, citing cooking gas supply disruptions.
Manoj Kacchwa, a restaurant owner from the Kranti Chowk area of the city, claimed that they are finding it difficult to get commercial LPG cylinders amid the ongoing West Asia crisis. The wait time is too long, he said.
“We are serving items that are cooked on a low flame. But this is not the case everywhere. Many of my friends who have hotels in Waluj, Ranjangaon, Bidkin and Chikalthana industrial areas have shut their hotels due to gas shortage,” he said.
An eatery in the City Chowk area serving Chinese dishes remained closed. Its owner Kalam Khan said they have no cooking gas left.
“Since this is the Ramzan month, we have to pay salaries to our workers. I am planning to shift to traditional wood chulhas and start cooking biryani from tomorrow. If we can manage to get coal-fired sigdis (stoves), we may consider preparing other items,” he said.
Aarti Deshpande, who runs a mess in the Nirala Bazar, said that procuring cooking gas has become a cumbersome task.
“Earlier, cooking gas was delivered to our mess. Now, the agencies ask us to come and register our demand for gas cylinders. I do not know how much time we will have to spend there. We have not reduced our menu, but the cost of gas has become a serious concern for us,” said Deshpande.
Speaking in Parliament earlier in the day, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri said it is the foremost priority of the Centre that the kitchens of over 33 crore families, especially the poor and the underprivileged, do not face any shortage of gas.
The minister said commercial LPG has been regulated to prevent black marketing, not to penalise the hospitality sector.
West Asia crisis: Congress stages protest in Latur over LPG situation
The Congress staged a protest in Maharashtra’s Latur on Thursday over the LPG cylinder situation amid the West Asia crisis following the joint US-Israel attack on Iran.
As part of the protest, party workers carried out a mock funeral procession of a gas cylinder and alleged that the BJP-led Union and state governments were failing to provide relief to citizens. Some women participants also lit wood-fired stoves in the middle of the road to highlight the alleged shortage of LPG.
“Citizens are suffering across the country. If people are forced to queue up for cooking gas even in the 21st century, it reflects the failure of the government. During the UPA government, a cylinder cost around Rs 400, but today the price has crossed Rs 1,280,” Congress district president Abhay Salunkhe said.
Latur City Congress Committee president Kiran Jadhav alleged that while the state government launches welfare schemes for women, it simultaneously increases the prices of LPG and other essentials, leaving them with little money.
Incidentally, the Union government on Thursday said there is no shortage of petrol, diesel, kerosene or aviation turbine fuel in the country despite the ongoing West Asia crisis, and urged the Opposition not to spread rumours and fake narratives.
Responding to concerns raised by Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri said the government’s foremost priority is to ensure that the kitchens of more than 33 crore families, especially the poor and the underprivileged, do not face any shortage of gas.
(With PTI inputs)