Shimla, March 11 -- Amid the West Asia war and fear of cooking gas shortage, the Centre has stopped the refilling of commercial LPG cylinders, leaving hotels, eateries and food businesses in the lurch. As per the central ministry's directives, the refilling of 19 kg, 47.5 kg, and 425 kg commercial cylinders has been suspended for the time being. The step has been taken to prioritise domestic consumers and address potential LPG shortages. Ashwani Bamba, president hotel association, Dharamshala, said, "The situation is grave with the supply of commercial cylinders being stopped. We are meeting the deputy commissioner seeking relaxations to exempt the small restaurants and hotels and allow them to use domestic cylinders at least to provide food to the staff." "There is severe shortage. Domestic cylinder is being provided on premium and commercial supply is stopped," said Bamba, while adding "We are now switching over to alternative mode of cooking like buying commercial induction plates and diesel run bhatti. This means added investment but this is need for survival so that we may slowdown but atleast are not forced to close down. Closing down would lead to laying off of the staff." The Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) region, considered Himachal's industrial hub, is the most affected by this decision. Hotel, restaurant, and dhaba operators across the state are facing operational challenges as the LPG supply have been stopped. Meanwhile, the hospitality sector, including eateries and hotels, are switching to alternate methods for cooking, including the use of commercial induction plates and disel run bhatti, along with shrinking the menus. A LPG supplier in Shimla, without willing to be named said, "Booking of second domestic cylinder will be taken after 25 days for Indian Oil Corporation and after 21 days for Hindustan Petroleum after 21 days. Changes have been incorporated in the software. This is being done to keep check on rationing of domestic supply." Anil Walia, adviser of Shimla hotels and tourism stakeholders shared that the supply has been stopped without forewarning, leaving the hoteliers in lurch. "We are staring at close down. It's a turmoil," said Walia. "The hoteliers are buying Commercial heat induction plates but on those one will be able to do very basic cooking as the staff is not that trained and even the commercial kitchen setup does not provide that scope without added investment. We are looking at a situation where we will have to brainstorm to change the menus as the struggle is now for providing basic food to guests. We will now be able to provide only a limited menu using induction and microwaves." Binta Sharma who, along with 4 other women, runs a book cafe in Shimla which supports around 2000 women who are members of the cluster of self help groups, said, "Our business solely depends on the LPG. We use 3 LPG cylinders in one month and now there are curbs on that so we are worried." "Homestays of the residential model do not have anything to worry so far," said Tanuja Dhanta, the chief of Himachali homestay association. The Federation of Himachal Hotels and Restaurant Association has submitted a representation to Hardeep Singh Puri, minister of petroleum and natural gas, Government of India, highlighting that the hospitality industry, particularly in tourism-dependent states like Himachal, relies heavily on commercial LPG cylindersfor day-to-day operations such as cooking and food preparation. The federation has urged the GoI to take necessary steps. "We also request that suitable measures may be taken to stabilise the supply chain and provide priority allocation to the hospitality sector so that hotels and restaurants can continue their services without disruption," said Gajendra Thakur, president of association. "There is panic and people are trying to stock which will make things worse. We - The hospitality industry will definitely be impacted," he further said....