Distressed migrants at breaking point

The 40-50 lakh-strong migrant workers, who keep the wheels of the city turning, are among those hardest hit by the LPG shortage due to the ongoing West Asia war

MUMBAI: Just ₹30 a day – yet it will determine whether Ajay Kumar can continue to live in Mumbai or is forced back to his village, as the LPG crisis turns into a question of survival for lakhs of migrant workers like him.

People queue up with empty cylinders for LPG cooking gas refills at Lokhandwala Township, Kandiavli, Mumbai, amid supply concerns triggered by the ongoing Iran–US conflict in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Hindustan Times)

“The rice plate I eat for lunch has risen from ₹50 to ₹80. How will I manage? Thankfully, the food stall, where I eat, is still functioning as they are managing to wrangle cylinders. Varna hum bhookhe rah jate (Or else, we would starve),” said Kumar, a daily wager from Uttar Pradesh who seeks work at nakas in Andheri east.

The 40-50 lakh-strong migrant workers, who keep the wheels of the city turning, are among those hardest hit by the LPG shortage due to the ongoing West Asia war.

“We have started getting feelers from migrant workers, asking us to help them navigate the crisis. People are also struggling to get kerosene and other alternative fuels. It’s literally a question of survival, forcing migrants to consider returning home,” says Deepak Paradkar of Ajeevika Bureau, a non-profit that works with Mumbai’s migrant population. Paradkar says many have asked the NGO for help them secure train tickets and to help find ways out of the situation.

“As soon as my children’s exams end on April 10, we will return to our village in Madhya Pradesh. We have been using a charcoal sigdi to cook since a week. Back home, we own buffaloes and can use cow dung cakes as cooking fuel,” he says.

A large number of migrants and their families depend on LPG cylinders sourced illegally as they don’t have authorised cooking gas connections. An acute shortage of the gas has hiked the price of LPG in the black market to more than ₹2,500 per cylinder.

“My colleagues and I would cook together in our lodgings. Since we ran out of LPG about ten days ago, we have been eating out even though we can barely afford it,” says Munna Ansari, a tailor at Saki Naka. “I am seriously considering returning to my native village in Jharkhand until normalcy returns here.”