BHUBANESWAR: Struggling for survival owing to an acute LPG shortage, embattled caterers of the state have threatened to launch agitation if the supply of commercial cooking gas cylinder is not normalised immediately.
The Catering Association of Odisha (CAO) on Sunday said the sector is facing a severe crisis due to non-availability of commercial LPG cylinders.
Association president Binay Bhusan Patnaik said there are over 2,000 catering units operating across the state. “All of them are fighting for existence now as the commercial LPG supply has become absolutely scarce. While most of the units are staring at closure, livelihood of more than one lakh workers and people associated with the units is at stake,” Patnaik said.
He said representatives of the association had met Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare minister Krushna Chandra Patra and were assured of an early solution to the issue. The minister had assured that at least 50 per cent supply would be restored. However, the ground situation remains unchanged, Patnaik complained.
He said some of the catering business owners have already downed their shutters. The situation has remained so critical that many are even afraid of accepting bookings for the upcoming wedding season.
Association chairman Anup Kumar Bagai pointed to the contradiction between government claims and the ground reality. “While the government has stated that there is no shortage of LPG cylinders, most gas agencies in the state are unable to supply them,” he said.
CAO secretary Debi Prasad Rath said the situation has placed caterers in Odisha in a difficult position. “On one hand, they face the risk of legal action if they use domestic (14 kg) cylinders for commercial purpose, on the other hand, commercial cylinders remain unavailable,” he said.
The association appealed the state government to take immediate steps to address the crisis, failing which, it warned of launching a statewide agitation along with workers and their family members.