ROURKELA: The LPG shortage crisis has reached Rourkela where restaurants and hotels have already halved their serving capacity, while a couple of others may shut shops soon.
Many restaurants have been forced to use diesel and coal stoves following total supply disruption of commercial cylinders.
Owner of a renowned restaurant at Uditnagar, on condition of anonymity, said the stoppage of commercial LPG supply has severely hit hotel business in Rourkela. The hotels have been forced to procure diesel stoves, each costing Rs 25,000- Rs 30,000 and also use coal in tandoor. “Procuring and using diesel and coal is not feasible in the long run which compelled me to halve my restaurant’s capacity by closing a large hall with 130 seats,” he said.
General secretary of Rourkela Hoteliers’ Association (RHA) Qaiser Jameel said shifting to alternative cooking fuels has hit every operator hard. He claimed that one of the prominent hotels of the city is seriously considering to close its restaurant and few others may also follow suit.
However, Siddharth Agarwal, proprietor of Cooking Feed, a LPG distributor said domestic cylinder supplies are normal but there is difficulty in catering to the sudden demand surge. “From the first week of March, panic booking for LPG was noticed. That scenario is now improving and we are clearing the orders systematically despite facing limited delivery capacity,” he added.
Jameel said a delegation of the RHA will meet the government authorities in a week to get a clear picture and also request restoration of commercial LPG supply.
Meanwhile, angry locals carrying empty LPG cylinders blocked the State Highway 10 in front of Indane Gas distributorship protesting inordinate delay in getting the delivery. Without cooking gas, they said, they are running to the distributor without getting any clear picture.
General secretary of Sundargarh District Petroleum Dealers’ Association Pravat Tibrewal claimed there has been ‘undeclared rationing’ in supply of petroleum products leading to the chaotic situation. Earlier, the oil marketing companies were pushing for sale of petroleum fuel but now after indents, dealers have to wait for a couple of days. Sundargarh district has 184 to 200 fuel filling stations and 78 to 85 LPG dealerships.