Mumbai: The situation for restaurant owners is getting tougher by the day with the majority—around 60%—all set to pull down shutters till their daily commercial LPG supply is restored. The others will remain operational but with their menu curtailed and a majority of items unavailable.Sandeep Sharma of Pancham Puriwala at Borabazar opposite the CST terminus said they have already scaled their menu down by 70% and curtailed the timings. He said the hotel plans to get an induction stove to continue to serve customers on a limited basis.Krishna Purohit of ShreeThaker Bhojanalay in Kalbadevi said the hotel has already stopped serving dishes such as halwa, daal baati, undhiyu and puris as they consumed a large proportion of gas. “Our situation is like every other restaurant in the city,” he added. However, Nissar Sardar of Sardaar Pav Bhaaji in Tardeo said since their hotel still had coal supply and coal-based chulhas, they have faced no issues so far.Kaustubh Tambe of the popular Aaram Vadapav at CST carried around 50 kg of potatoes home on Wednesday night to get them boiled and will take another 100 kg today night to get them ready for Friday morning. “Today we could not serve upavas misal, pulav, upma, poha, khichadi but we will try serve all our items tomorrow with the help of an induction stove in the absence of cylinders. We plan to ensure that we at least serve fried items such as batata vada, sabudana vada, bhaji, thalipeeth, etc without disruption. We are trying everything to keep the show going,” he said.Vijay Shetty, president of the Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHAR), an apex body of over 15,000 restaurant owners across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, said several hotel members including him have been unable to get coal and kerosene stocks to feed their chulhas amidst the crisis. “A large number of Mumbaikars who are dependent on restaurant food due to their busy schedules are getting deprived of their breakfasts and dinners,” he added.Congress legislature party leader Vijay Wadettiwar has alleged in the assembly that domestic cylinder prices have risen by Rs 60 since the crisis began and refills now take 25 days instead of 15. About 30% of hotels in cities like Mumbai and Nagpur have shut due to supply disruptions, he added. Wadettiwar warned of black-marketing risks, citing a Rs 18-lakh cylinder truck theft, and demanded the govt clarify stock levels and restore supply.
