Bhubaneswar: With uncertainty over availability of food and rising costs at tourist destinations amid food commercial cooking gas crisis, many prospective travellers in the city are choosing caution over holiday plans for now. Many residents have cancelled or postponed their holiday plans, fearing possible closure of eateries at tourist destinations.Travellers are worried that restaurants, roadside dhabas and small food joints at popular tourist spots may be either shut temporarily or charge higher prices.A group of youths from Bhubaneswar planning a trip to Kedarnath Dham in Uttarakhand said they decided to wait for the situation to improve before finalising their journey.“I was reading reports about the problems being faced by small eateries, roadside dhabas and restaurants because of the shortage of cooking gas. Some have already shut down temporarily. If we travel to tourist places now, I fear we may face difficulties in getting food,” said Satya Narayan Patra, 37, a resident of Raghunathpur.Patra added the group is in a wait-and-watch mode and will take a final call over the next two weeks. “If the situation improves within the next 15 days, we may plan the trip in May. Otherwise, we will cancel it. We cannot afford uncertainty during the journey,” he said.Somanath Jena, 27, of Patia village, said his group planned to visit several places in Uttarakhand next month, but the current situation made them reconsider. “We are in two minds because of reports about eateries shutting down and food prices going up at tourist places. We decided to postpone the trip,” he said.Sujit Nayak, 47, also from Patia, said his family already cancelled a planned trip to Manali over fears of inconvenience. “Everyone wants a comfortable and enjoyable experience while travelling. We do not want to visit a place only to struggle for food and basic convenience. We will travel once the situation improves,” he said.
