Vada Pav gets caught in the crosshairs of West Asia conflict

The vada-pav is a staple for a large section of people in Mumbai, India's financial capital, and the larger Mumbai Metropolitan Region, particularly labourers, workers, drivers and daily wage earners.

Mumbai: The iconic vada-pav—which witnessed Bombay's transformation into Mumbai—seems to be in a sort of unprecedented crisis in the wake of the the LPG shortage because of the West Asia conflict.

The vada-pav is a staple for a large section of people in Mumbai, particularly labourers, workers, drivers and daily wage earners.

The situation is not different for pav-bhaji and keema-pav — two other popular dishes of this metropolitan city.

In fact, the LPG crisis is compounding daily, and there are fears that the disruptions could be big, if the conflict prolongs in West Asia which has led to the blockage of Strait of Hormuz, one of the most important energy corridors of the world.

The MMR, comprising Mumbai and neighbouring districts of Thane, Palghar and Raigad - which has a total population of around 2.5 crore making it one of the world's most populated urban areas of the world - a sizeable population depends on local food joints either/or for breakfast, lunch, evenings snacks and dinner.

“There are 600 to 700 bakeries in Mumbai. Gone are the days when wood fire was used to bake pav and other bakery items. Majority of the bakeries have shifted to commercial LPG cylinders,” Nasir Ansari, the President of Bombay Bakers Association, told DH.

“The bakeries will keep running till the LPG stock lasts…only a few have PNG connections,” he said adding that a few of them have already shut operations.

“It is very difficult too street food joints running. The restaurants and hotels may still have some stocks. We are using kerosene and have the mini-LPG cylinders. It is one of the most difficult situations,” said Suresh Patil, who runs Priya Fast Food in Palghar.

“Based on feedback from our members, we estimate that nearly 30 per cent of hotels and restaurants are shut due to the on-going shortage. Establishments that have continued operations have largely done so under curtailed conditions, with reduced operating hours, limited menus and restricted kitchen activity in order to conserve available gas stocks.

If fresh supplies do not reach the market soon, more establishments may be forced to temporarily shut operations in the coming days, particularly small and medium-sized eateries that operate with limited reserves,” said Pradeep Shetty, Vice President, Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) and spokesperson for the Hotel & Restaurant Association-Western India (HRAWI).

Each bakery churns out around 1,500 trays (laadis) of pav every day and employs a sizeable number of persons.

Nearly two lakh delivery workers ferry fresh bread across the city each morning on bicycles and motorcycles, supplying to all from roadside stalls to high-end eateries and corporates.

The suburban stations in the MMR on the routes of Central Railway and Western Railway are also facing the crunch. More than 70 lakh people travel in the local trains, considered the lifeline, and often pick up a vada-pav after getting down or boarding a train.