The crisis began last week with shortage of commercial LPG cylinders, which are primarily used by hotels, restaurants, messes and other establishments in the hospitality sector. With irregular supply affecting their daily operations, many eateries were forced to adopt alternative arrangements to keep their kitchens running.However, what started as a commercial cylinder shortage has now snowballed into a much larger problem affecting domestic consumers as well. Though authorities claim domestic cylinders are available, the mandatory online booking system has become a major bottleneck, leaving thousands unable to register refill bookings.As a result, large crowds of citizens are now seen rushing to gas agency offices and godowns across the city, standing in long queues for hours — often under the scorching heat — in the hope of getting their bookings processed. Many citizens claim they tried to book cylinders online for several days, but the system repeatedly failed to process the request, and the booking numbers remained non-operational.The growing frustration also led to frequent quarrels between citizens and gas agency employees.“Incidents of quarrels with gas agency staff are increasing as many citizens are not able to book a cylinder online, which was made mandatory. An incident of gas cylinder theft was also reported,” said a gas agency owner, adding growing frustration among citizens can lead to untoward incidents. Meanwhile, the hospitality industry continues to struggle with the shortage of commercial cylinders. Several restaurant owners say they were forced to innovate and adapt to keep their kitchens operational, and even cut down their menus.Samar Das, a hotelier, said he invested in alternative cooking equipment to deal with the crisis.“I bought multiple electric cooktops and induction stoves from Delhi to continue operations,” he said. “However, many small restaurants have shifted to chullahs, and almost all restaurants cut their menus, hoping that the crisis would come to an end,” he said. For larger establishments too, the shortage has forced a rethink in kitchen operations.Angadh Arora, owner of a star hotel in the city, said his establishment started rationing LPG usage while also experimenting with alternative cooking methods.“I minimised my establishment’s LPG usage and started rationing it,” said Arora. “I also shifted to ready-to-cook items, like boiled dal or chana, which take much time in traditional cooking. The taste is also not affected, as only raw material is used, and other tadkas and everything are done at the hotel.”While restaurants are slowly finding ways to adjust to the shortage of commercial cylinders, domestic consumers say they have little choice but to wait.With citizens standing in long queues for hours just to book a refill, and restaurants struggling to manage their kitchens, the LPG crisis has now evolved into a dual problem affecting both businesses and households across the city.
