Bhopal’s street stalls running out of gas & hope

Bhopal: As the state's decision to cap commercial LPG supply to hospitals and educational institutions, amid the global crude supply squeeze, takes effect, take-away street-food vendors dotting the cityscape are beginning to wound up shop and slowly disappear. Those still open for business say they are somehow soldiering on despite the stress to keep their burners flickering.Even as the government continues to play down the supply crunch, claiming adequate cylinders in stock, the perceived LPG shortfall, based on the evidence on the ground, is already starting to hit the small holders and their livelihoods hard. Food stall owners at Shahpura, No. 6 Market and No. 10 Market said the last few days have been rough, as chasing cylinders have been an enterprise in vain more often than not. They conceded that business has taken a hit and so has their daily earnings as those cylinders are getting harder and harder to source. Many have already slashed their menus, striking off a range of lip-smackers that put stress on their depleting LPG stocks. A few have even started shutting shops at sundown to stretch whatever they have left in their cylinders by a few more days.Speaking to TOI, Mohammad Rafi, who runs a poha-dahi vada stall in Shahpura, said, "Some are sourcing supplies from the black market at twice or thrice the normal price to remain in business. As for profit, there's barely any these days. If the situation doesn't get better anytime soon, stalls like mine would have to close. We can't keep burning up cash on exorbitantly-priced cylinders."Kasir Ahmed, a stall owner at No. 6 Market, was busy extracting every ounce from his solitary cylinder to serve up tea and snacks to his customers before it ran out. While the customers asked for their tea and fritters to be served hot, there wasn't a drop of fuel left to reheat whatever he managed to dish out. His customers simply shrugged off and left as he pleaded his case.Amit, who presides over a stall at No.10 Market, told TOI, "This is my only source of livelihood. Since cylinders are increasingly hard to come by, I was forced to source one at a steep price. When I raised the cost on a few of my items to cover for it, the customers started questioning it and turning away." The once-buzzing city markets are falling eerily silent now as the LPG crisis hits home.