Mumbai: With the shortage of commercial LPG cylinders becoming more acute, more restaurants in the city and suburbs have downed shutters. Said president of the Association of Hotels And Restaurants (AHAR) Vijay Shetty: ``On Tuesday 20 per cent of the 16,000 restaurants were shut and on Wednesday the number shot up to 35 per cent. The situation will become worse in the coming days."
Iconic Eateries Slash Menus to Stay Afloat
Many restaurants have pruned their menus drastically. For example, Matunga's Hotel Ramashray was serving only four items - sada dosa, mysore sada dosa, tea and filter coffee - in its 87 year history. ``It was a popular eatery that was serving its customers from five in the morning for so many decades. But today it is a pale shadow of itself," R. Vishwanthan, a regular customer lamented. The restaurant's newly-opened branch at Charni Road offered only upma, sheera, wada and bisibele bath on Wednesday.
Satish Nayak, who owns the legendary meals hotel Shrikrishna Udipi Boarding, situated cheek-by-jowl with Matunga railway station,said: ``My stock of LPG cylinders is fast depleting. I will have no choice but cut down on the menu. I toyed with the idea of using electrical hot plates, but they are unsuited for large scale cooking." Pradeep Shetty, another hotelier, said the situation was indeed grim. He said the use of kerosene stoves was not an option for hoteliers.
Piped Gas Users Emerge as Lucky Few
Some of the hoteliers who get piped gas from Mahanagar Gas Ltd are lucky. Rama Iyer of Mani's Lunch Home, Chembur, said ``We have piped gas and because of that we are able to continue with a full menu." Navin Muthuswamy of Arya Bhavan chain of restaurants said: ``We have piped gas in our Vile Parle and Chembur outlets and hence we are not facing any problem. We use electric stove and LPG gas in our Matunga branch and we have applied for piped gas," he added. Naresh Nayak of Cafe Mysore, Matunga, too said he was getting piped gas because of which the situation was under control. Devavrat Nayak of Cafe Madras, Matunga, said ``We are having piped gas hence are facing no difficulty."
Meanwhile, roadside eateries that use kerosene fuel are having a roaring business. It is learnt that the authorities cracked down on a syndicate selling LPG cyliders in the black market in Dharavi on Wednesday.
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