KOCHI: As was expected, the continued shortage of commercial LPG has resulted in the closure of many hotels and restaurants in the city heartland.
According to the Kochi chapter of the Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association (KHRA), more than 100 outlets have already shut, and more are likely to follow suit in the next two days. However vexing the fuel crisis for the proprietors, what troubles them most is another dilemma.
“If we continue to remain closed for long, our staff, mostly comprising migrant workers, will leave us,” Basheer, of Galaxy Hotel, a restaurant in Kakkanad, told TNIE.
For this reason, Basheer, despite shutting his establishment on Wednesday, has decided to throw it open again and serve light snacks and tea/coffee. “I don’t have another choice,” he said. “I can recover the losses once this crisis wanes and the industry stabilises. But getting a good staff is the most difficult of tasks.”
A top-tier vegetarian hotel chain in the city echoed the message. “We don’t want this crisis to have any kind of ruffling among our staff. So we have decided to stay open, albeit with a revised menu and a change in timings,” said its owner. They have done away with live fry items like dosas and Chinese dishes and are instead relying on serving light snacks. “This is fine. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s to protect our staff at all costs,” he added.
The same is also true for most restaurants in the city. What makes or breaks a place is indeed its staff. But not all establishments can afford to absorb losses. And unsurprisingly, several have shut. “Hotel Sani in Kacheripady was likely the first to down their shutters, by Wednesday evening,” said K T Rahim, Ernakulam district secretary of KHRA.
“By Thursday, more followed, including Hotel Sona and Hotel Breeze on MG Road and Hotel Ritz in Pallimukku, and i Magic Oven in Kadavanthra,” he added. Over 20 outlets have shut in Palarivattom and Edappally alone. “No one is spared from this crisis. Big, small... all hotels will eventually run into trouble,” pointed out N Abdul Razak, KHRA general secretary.
Azees Moosa, KHRA working president, noted, “What few that’s still open are likely running on cylinders they have stockpiled from the previous delivery. And these will last for maybe two-three days.”
Indeed, Alakapuri, another eatery and a favourite haunt of techies in Kakkanad, reportedly have enough gas to last three or four days. Its closure will further plunge the region, which comprises mostly of a young techie crowd, into an even greater dilemma.
KHRA officials to meet CM
Some eateries have done away with live fry items and are relying on serving light snacks
KHRA officials are slated to meet Chief Minister on Monday to convey their concerns