Delhi's canteens, langars rethink meals, trim menus amid LPG shortage

At Delhi University’s North Campus, PG establishments that house hundreds of students say they are struggling to maintain regular food services.

New Delhi: From langars to Atal canteens the ongoing LPG shortage in the Capital has begun disrupting community kitchens across Delhi, forcing operators to cut menu options and come up with contingency plans.

People wait to refill their LPG Cylinders, in New Delhi on Thursday. (Sathiya)

Among those feeling the pinch are canteens at schools and colleges, where prices are expected to be concessional for students. For instance, one canteen at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is curtailing its menu as of now.

Vijay Mukhiya, who runs a canteen at the School of Languages, said he will stop selling snacks from Monday and only offer tea. “A cylinder that earlier cost around ₹1,100 went up to ₹1,600 a few days ago and now costs ₹2,800–3,000. I cannot afford this.”

Students living on campus also said the popular Ganga Dhaba may limit its menu to tea and bread omelette, discontinuing other meals.

The Delhi School of Economics (DSE) canteen has also temporarily removed, among other things, its iconic mutton dosa from the menu. Owner, Souvik Gupta, said, “If the situation continues, we may have to remove several more items because we cannot increase food prices in university establishments where the rates are fixed.”

At Delhi University’s North Campus, PG establishments that house hundreds of students say they are struggling to maintain regular food services as the supply of commercial cylinders becomes uncertain and prices surge in the black market.

Residents of one PG chain were recently informed officially on WhatsApp that it will levy a temporary fee of ₹1,200 for March to sustain kitchen operations.

Shailendra Rana, owner of Rana Boys’ PG, “We are not personally facing issues right now because we have some stock of LPG cylinders. But if the situation continues like this, we will have to think about alternative measures.” He added that some PG operators in the area are already considering shutting their kitchens or reducing meal services.

School kitchens are also preparing contingency plans. The Shri Ram School in Vasant Vihar, in a message sent to parents, seen by HT, said its caterer currently has only two days of LPG stock left.

“If fresh LPG stocks are not procured by Saturday, the vendor will not be able to provide lunch and snacks starting Monday,” the school said, requesting parents to make alternate arrangements for their children.

Subsidised community kitchens run under the Atal Canteen scheme are also facing operational stress. A Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) spokesperson said all Atal canteens are functioning normally and no formal complaints have been received from vendors. However, some operators said that the shortage is making the ₹5 subsidised meal programme financially difficult to sustain.

“We are not able to procure gas cylinders and have to use the ones we have at home. Cylinders have become extremely costly and it is becoming unviable to continue at the existing price,” said one vendor requesting anonymity. At Gurdwara Pahariwala in Greater Kailash-I, which serves langar to hundreds of devotees, officials say they have been asked to reduce consumption.

MPS Bindra from its management committee said the gurdwara uses a piped gas connection. “The gas operator showed us our six-month consumption data and told us we have to operate at 80% supply now. We don’t know how this will work out because we serve langar to hundreds of people every day.”

Other gurdwaras say they are already running out of reserves. Mahal Singh, who works at Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha in East of Kailash, said the management has been unable to procure new cylinders.

“We have almost run out of our supply and our staff has tried everywhere to find cylinders. If this continues, we will have to prepare limited langar,” he said.

(With inputs from HT Correspondent Yug Singh Chauhan)