Hit by LPG shortage, vendors shutting shops, heading home | Lucknow News

Lucknow: A deepening LPG shortage and soaring prices are crippling small vendors across Lucknow, forcing many migrant workers—largely from eastern Uttar Pradesh districts—to shut businesses and return to their villages.Vendors from districts such as Azamgarh, Basti, Deoria, Mau, Ballia, Jaunpur, and Kushinagar said irregular supply and inflated prices have made survival difficult.“We are earning less and spending more on gas,” said Rakesh Maurya from Azamgarh, who runs a bun-butter tea stall in Hazratganj.Similarly, in Indiranagar, Arvind Mishra from Basti, who runs a fast-food cart, said, “I haven’t received a cylinder for 10 days; work has stopped.”“I used to earn Rs 500 daily and now will not be able to pay my home rent, so I thought of returning to my home in Basti,” he added.A chaat vendor in Nishatganj from Deoria, Rahul Verma, said, “There is no option but to return to the village. LPG is available in black and is very expensive. I sold some jewellery on the insistence of friends and got an induction, but it is not able to cook at the speed, and customers don’t have the patience to wait.”In Gomtinagar, Manoj Singh from Ballia added, “Gas is being sold at double rate in black; how can we run our shop?”A kebab/paratha vendor in Chowk, Mohammed Arif from Kushinagar, said, “Daily earnings are directly hit.”He further said when he ran out of gas and attempted to cook using firewood in the open, he was stopped by his landlord, who resides in the same portion where he puts his stall.Daily-wage earners in Lucknow say the LPG shortage and inflated prices have pushed them to the brink, forcing many to skip meals or return to their villages. In areas like Transport Nagar, Talkatora industrial belt, and Chinhat, groups of migrant workers with bags and bedding have begun leaving the city.Workers from small units in Sarojini Nagar and Amausi said that despite having jobs, they are unable to sustain themselves due to unaffordable cooking gas.Manoj Kumar, a labourer working in a packaging unit in Chinhat and originally from Unnao, said even if gas is available, it is too expensive to afford.Similarly, Shankar Soni from Bahraich, working in Talkatora, said he has been trying to refill his cylinder for over a week. The dealer says there is no stock. What should we do?At Gupta Chaat Corner in Burlington, a couple running the stall for years said they are on the verge of closure as their cylinder is nearly exhausted.“This is our only livelihood. With no refill in sight, we don’t know how we will manage our expenses or our children’s education,” they said.In Hussainganj, a baati chokha vendor and his speech-impaired father have closed their outlet and returned to their village, highlighting how the crisis is pushing families out of the city.