Only 600-700 LPG cylinders supplied daily:Tourists, students face food crisis as restaurants suspend services

A ban on commercial LPG supply after the Gulf war crisis has started affecting daily life in the city, with a large impact expected on 2 to 3 lakh tourists, students and visitors from outside. LPG ban begins to disrupt city food services The government stopped commercial LPG supply on March 9. Since then, restaurants, hotels, canteens, messes and street food stalls have begun to feel the pressure. Around 15 to 20 percent of these places have either shut down or stopped serving lunch and dinner. Most managed for 10 to 12 days using stored gas and other options, but if the supply does not restart soon, more businesses may be forced to stop work. Daily food needs of lakhs of people at risk This situation could also affect jobs and the local food economy. Every day, nearly 1.5 to 2 lakh people depend on these food outlets for meals and breakfast, and they may face problems if the crisis continues. Popular food hubs start showing clear signs of impact The effect is now visible in popular food areas like Sarafa Chaupati and Chhappan Dukan. Shops selling milk products, snacks and sweets have also started seeing a drop in business. At Chhappan Dukan, only fast food counters are running, while those serving fresh hot meals are reducing items due to limited resources. Gunjan Sharma from the Chhappan Dukan Association said that PNG connections are being arranged with help from the administration. These are expected to reach all 20 food outlets within a week, which may ease the situation. At present, shop owners are using induction and other alternatives to continue operations. However, if LPG supply does not return to normal soon, shops selling daily food items like kachori, samosa, tea, poha and jalebi may also start shutting down. 20 percent establishments changed menus, induction takes time Abhishek Baheti and Sachin Agarwal of the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) said that LPG-based industries have almost shut down. Hotels-restaurants and food stalls were operating from stock, but with their cylinders also running empty, a zero-cylinder situation has arisen. 20 percent of establishments have changed their menus. Some places are serving lunch during the day, while others have dinner arrangements at night. LPG is essential for hotels and restaurants. Many items need to be served hot to the customer immediately. This is not possible on induction, as it takes 20 to 30 minutes. Its use is also limited. In a zero-cylinder situation, running restaurants, hotels, and canteens will become difficult. The number of closures could exceed 50 percent in the next week. Supply Shrunk to 700 Cylinders Instead of 3200 In the city, only 600 to 700 commercial cylinders are being supplied instead of 3,200 cylinders. Restaurants and hotels running on PNG are operational, but they are also facing problems with rising prices and supply. Sumeet Suri of the Hotel Association says that if the situation does not improve, it will affect the tourism economy during the summer holidays in the coming days. 4-5 shops closed in Sarafa, cafes in crisis Ram Gupta of Sarafa Chaupati Association says, “LPG cylinders are rarely used here. Items like Pav Bhaji, Chhole Tikkiya, Jalebi are made. Those who have stock are setting up shops. 4-5 shops have also closed.” Cafe operators in areas like Scheme 140, Bhanwarkuan, Vijay Nagar, Scheme 54, LIG, Annapurna, etc., say that LPG cylinders are essential. Without them, many items would have to be removed from the menu, as it’s not easy to prepare them instantly on induction. Will make available if quota increases According to ML Maru, Food Supply Controller, “As soon as we receive instructions from the center to increase the quota for commercial cylinders, we will make them available. There will be an improvement this week.”