Kolkata: In the past couple of days, sweets like ‘amriti’, ‘jilipi’, ‘kalojaam’, ‘lalmohan’, ‘pantua’, ‘bonde’, ‘darbesh’, ‘mihidana’, ‘sitabhog’ and ‘labanga lotika’ have disappeared from the racks at sweetshops. The shops are churning out more ‘rosogolla’, ‘rasomalai’, ‘sandesh’, ‘kheer-kadam’, ‘chamcham’, ‘rosomadhuri’ and ‘mishti doi’. The sweets that require high heat, like ‘karapak sandesh’, also took a hit.The drying up of commercial LPG cylinder stock at the kitchens of these shops had an effect at the counters. The impact was such that the fried sweets were not available. “Shops are preparing traditional sweets of Bengal with ‘chana’ using equipment like steam boilers that need less energy,” said KC Das executive director, Dhiman Das.The heat requirement for making ‘sandesh’ ranges between 70°C and 75°C. The charring of ‘kalojaam’ needs temperature between 120°C and 140°C. Das wrote to CM Mamata Banerjee on Thursday, mentioning the peril faced by 10 lakh people attached to the sector. This industry is valued at more than Rs 6,500 crore. “The crisis could start affecting from Sunday in case of increased demand for fried sweets and snacks. Some arrangements are being made for using diesel ‘bhattis’ temporarily,” Das said.Many owners have reduced the number of staff working at their outlets. The workers returned to their villages. Some shops were closed. For those who relish indulgence in sweets, the absence of their favourite delicacies from menus turned into a major crisis. “I am a quintessential Bengali. I need to have at least one sweet after consuming lunch daily. This situation is disconcerting,” said Sanjay Kundu, another resident of the city.Nalin Chandra Das, a shop in Natun Bazaar, has done some innovation while staying true to its 210 years old tradition. It turned to diesel furnace and induction cookers. “Most of the sweets used to be manufactured in coal and wood fire ovens about 50 years ago. We shifted to LPG but also kept diesel furnaces. We later purchased induction cookers. They are now proving invaluable,” said Tapan Das, the fourth generation proprietor of the shop.At Girish Ch Dey & Nakur Ch Nandy, the 182 years old shop on Ramdulal Sarkar Street, the staff has stopped making ‘karapak sandesh’ and other sweets of ‘malai.’ “Once the gas supply returns to normal, these items will be again available,” said Partha Nandy.Balaram Mullick & Radharaman Mullick, that had first started from Jadubabur Bazaar 141 years back before the fourth generation entrepreneur Sudip Mullick opened up other outlets some two decades ago, also faces a huge challenge to meet the variety of demand at its 18 stores.“Our manufacturing was based on LPG. We used diesel and electricity for preparing some sweets. We still have a substantial dependence on LPG. Given the crisis, we have reduced the amount of milk procurement by 20 per cent,” said Mullick.We have not yet halted the production of any of the sweets. Once the LPG stock finishes, we will be compelled to stop making sweets that require more energy,” said Mullick.
