Menus shrink at hotels & restaurants in Nashik amid curbs on commercial LPG supply

Nashik: Several hotels and restaurants in Nashik have begun trimming their menus to cope with the rationing of commercial LPG cylinders. Some establishments have already removed dishes like dosa and uttapa, items that require constant high-heat cooking, from their offerings. Many eateries are also limiting their main-course options to just two dishes, typically one non-vegetarian or one vegetarian item, along with a Chinese dish."We have stopped preparing dishes from the south of India that require the griddle to remain continuously hot," hotelier Shailesh Kute, said. "More dishes are being dropped to conserve cylinder usage," he said.Another hotel owner, Shridhar Shetti, said their commercial LPG stock was rapidly depleting as agencies and distributors had stopped supplying cylinders. "From Thursday, we will discontinue dosa and uttapa and offer only two main-course items. In non-veg category, we will serve only chicken masala, while the second option will be a Chinese dish," he said.Nashik district has around 8,000 hotels and restaurants. According to Sanjay Chavan, president of the Association of Bar, Hotel and Restaurants (ABHAR), the halt in supply for the past three to four days will soon force many hotels to shut temporarily due to non-availability of commercial cylinders.A delegation from the Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (MACCIA) met district collector Ayush Prasad on Wednesday, urging him to stabilise the supply of commercial cylinders. The delegation, led by MACCIA vicc-president Sanjay Sonawane, said industrial closures due to fuel shortages could impact the workforce and trigger unemployment. The collector assured them that supply would be regularised and black marketing curbed.The supply of domestic LPG cylinders remained unaffected. CNG pump operators also confirmed no shortage, with distribution running smoothly across outlets.