LPG shortage forces Hyderabad eateries, bandis to shut down

A shortage of commercial LPG cylinders due to the Middle East crisis has forced many eateries and roadside vendors in Hyderabad to shut down. Limited supply, rising costs, and lack of alternatives have disrupted businesses and affected employment across the city.

Hyderabad: The ongoing crisis of scarcity of commercial LPG cylinders due to war in the Middle-East has forced owners of small and medium-sized eateries and even roadside ‘bandis’ to shut their shutters in the past few days, across Hyderabad.

As the crisis prolongs, even the availability of the 19-kg commercial cylinder in the black market has become scarce. As a result, hotel owners with no deep pockets in multiple regions of Hyderabad have shut down their business. The shutting down of such commercial establishments also impacted employment for a large number of families.

As the ongoing crisis seems to show no sign of letting up, a large number of roadside ‘bandis’ in different parts of the city, which used to offer the affordable option of ‘plate meals’ to the general public, have also vanished.

While many hotels have managed to switch to traditional firewood, owners of commercial kitchens located in densely populated regions like Ameerpet and Begumpet have not been that lucky. Moreover, not all kitchens have the specialised skill required to manage the volatile firewood to prepare food.

Meanwhile, queues were seen at some LPG centres in the city with consumers lining up with cooking gas cylinders.