CHANDIGARH: The acute shortage of commercial LPG cylinders amid the West Asia war has forced the hotel industry in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to cut back on elaborate menus and shift to alternative cuisines and traditional cooking, with layoffs on the cards if the situation persists.
Talking to The New Indian Express, Gajindra Chand Thakur, President of the Federation of Himachal Hotels and Restaurant Association, said there are around 7,500 hotels and restaurants in the hill state. While for now, they have decided to serve a limited menu, they may have to start laying off staff if there is no immediate relief, he said. "We have written a letter to Union petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri requesting him to ensure adequate and uninterrupted supply of commercial LPG cyclnders across the country especially to tourist oriented states such as Himachal," he added.
Ashwani Bamba, president of the Dharamshala Hotel Association, said the situation is very critical due to the shortage of LPG. "If the situation continues like this for a few more days, we would have no option but to close hotels and restaurants and lay off staff which we do not want to do. Also, we are now mulling a change in menus and shifting to Chinese cuisine as it takes less energy to cook compared to Indian dishes like dal and roti. Further, we are planning to put bakery items like cake and sandwiches on the menu for the time being," he said.
"The situation is grave with the supply of commercial cylinders being stopped since March 6, leaving us with only two days of LPG. Thus we are meeting the deputy commissioner seeking relaxations to exempt restaurants and hotels and allow them to use domestic cylinders at least to provide food to the staff. Commercial induction plates and diesel run bhattis are no longer available in the market just as we were planning to buy them in order to switch over to alternative modes of cooking," he added.
Big fat weddings are another victim of the LPG shortage. Marriage halls and hotels in Punjab are switching to austerity mode for pre-booked wedding functions and also indicated that elaborate menus cannot be guaranteed. Moreover, they have removed snacks, simplified buffet menus and stopped labour-intensive live cooking stations in order to limit the use of commercial burners.
Punjab has approximately 16,000 hotels and restaurants and nearly 6,000 marriage halls. Satish Arora, president of the Hotel Restaurant and Resort Association of Punjab, said, "Our industry is on the verge of a shutdown. A commercial cylinder that usually costs around Rs 1,700 is now being sold for up to Rs 3,000 in the black market. We have started making alternate arrangements by switching to diesel burners and wood-based tandoors."
