'Why are the political leaders saying everything is normal?'
The general feeling amongst small shopkeepers, vegetable street vendors and food outlets is of unease and they relate the current situation to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown.
Long lines are seen near gas agencies. There is no panic, but everyone is worried about the rising costs of running their homes, restaurants and small businesses.
Gig workers have almost disappeared.
Some housing societies have pipe gas connections and they strangely were unaware of the ground reality.
The middle class who have cylinders at home are rationing their cooking styles, hoping for the war to end.
Key Points
- Small shopkeepers, street vendors, and food outlets report anxiety as LPG shortages disrupt cooking, sales, and daily business operations.
- Restaurants and food stalls have cut menus, stopped online delivery services, and struggle to obtain commercial cylinders.
- Migrant workers and small vendors are considering returning to their villages due to uncertainty and rising living costs.
- Vegetable vendors report declining sales as hotels, cloud kitchens, and small eateries reduce purchases amid fuel shortages.
- Some workers are resorting to traditional cooking methods like chulhas while others wait for supplies or the war situation to ease.
Restaurants Shut Online Food Orders
A widow who runs an eating outlet outside a railway station in Navi Mumbai says, "It will be very difficult for me to pay rent if this gas shortage continues."
"We just recovered from the corona pandemic and now this war is happening. I have children and old parents to look after. I am requesting the government to resolve this issue quickly or hotel owners will not be able to continue with their business," she adds.
Many students who live in PG accommodation come to eat at her outlet.
"We have shut down Swiggy and other online services. We serve just one bhaji and chappati now.
"I sometimes cook on the chulha at home and bring the food here. Gig workers will be unemployed since everyone is closing online orders," she says.
"I am in a fix -- to keep the shop open or close it," says Alok Yadav, a native of Bahraich in Uttar Pradesh, who runs a sandwich stall in Navi Mumbai. "Tension bahut hai."
Street Vendors Face Falling Sales
Shonali, a vegetable vendor in Navi Mumbai, tells me that vegetable sales have gone down.
Mukesh, also a native of Bharaich who sells dosa for a living, says he will wait and watch the situation for 15 days.
He has a gas cylinder at his Navi Mumbai home, which he shares with five from his village.
Hotels Struggle Without Commercial Cylinders
The owner of Hotel Pakwan in Navi Mumbai says he will have to shut his restaurant in two days if no solution is found. "Nobody speaks about our problems," he says. "Where are the commercial cylinders? I don't know where the other hotel owners are getting it from."
Pakwan has stopped online orders and cut down on its menu. The owner says he will support his staff, provide food and lodging, but paying rent for the restaurant will be difficult.
"We managed somehow during corona."
"Why are the political leaders saying everything is normal?" he asks.
These small eating places have students, bachelors and working women as their customers.
Rajendra Prasad, a fruit seller and native of Prayagraj, says he and five from his village will wait for 15 days before taking a decision if they should return home.
Khairul, another fruit seller, says there is a shortage of cylinders in his village in Jharkhand, but the villagers have an option to use firewood and coal. He plans to stay put in Panvel, Navi Mumbai, for a few days to check if the situation improves.
Some of his friends are staying back and some are going home.
Ashwini Raut, a vegetable vendor in Panvel, says she has been cooking on a chulha for the last three days.
Middle-class joint families face the brunt because their gas cylinders are used up fast, says Ashwini.
Migrant Workers Consider Returning Home
Ram Narain, who works as a security guard, will go to his village on the Madhya Pradesh-Uttar Pradesh border if he doesn't get a refill for his small cylinder.
He will somehow manage food from restaurants for a month and then leave for home, he says. His colleague Shiv has already left for his home in Prayagraj.
"What is the point of having vegetables when we cannot cook them?" asks Humayun, a vegetable vendor from Sahebganj, Jharkhand.
"We will wait for some time for the war to end and then decide whether to go back home."
Roshan Singh, who owns a security agency, says, six of his staffers have gone home to their villages in north India.
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff
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