Pune’s bylanes lose their sizzle: LPG shortage forces street food vendors to go on hiatus

Pune: On most evenings, the city announces itself not just through its noise but its aromas. Butter hitting a hot tava, garlic crackling in oil, or the smoky whisper of skewered kabab turning over a flame. Lately, that sensory orchestra has fallen oddly quiet.Across familiar food corridors, the absence is hard to miss. The bylanes behind Aurora Towers in Camp, once thick with the scent of moreish chole and frying bhature, now feel unusually spacious. Moledina Road's shawarma carts have vanished without a goodbye. On Dhole Patil Road, where students once queued up for sandwiches and chaat, now long stretches of pavement lie empty. Even Model Colony, dependable for its buttery masala pav, seems to have misplaced its appetite. Small street food vendors, many of whom rely on a single LPG cylinder a day, said the shortage has pushed them into an impossible corner. Black-market rates have climbed to nearly three times the usual price, turning a modest daily expense into a business-ending liability."We have shut since two weeks as the LPG in the black market is Rs6,000-7,000 —unaffordable. Instead of incurring losses, we thought of staying closed till the gas crisis is resolved. But now, with no relief apparent, I have to come up with something else. I have not paid my house rent this month, and need to start earning again," said Rahul Chowdhury, a Chinese food seller on Dhole Patil Road.Near Tulsibaug, vada pav vendor Madhukar Patil, who used to sell over 300 pieces in a single day, said, "Oil and potatoes we can manage, but without gas there is no frying. We tried borrowing cylinders from friends, but everyone is struggling. It is better to stop than run into debt."For students and young professionals, street food is not indulgence, it is affordable, filling, and reliably available. Without it, both wallets and routines feel the strain."A frequent go-to lunch as a pick-me-up was the chole bhature from stall behind Aurora Towers. It has been shut for several days. We used to celebrate small victories with colleagues giving each other this treat for lunch, but now we only have a few juice, kulfi or mastani stalls around here," said Jeet Mani, who works in Camp.A college student in the same area, Ritika Dave said, "There used to be so much buzz in Camp, especially on weekends, when people came to eat or take parcels from vendors in front of Clover Centre. But the carts are missing since a couple of weeks. Nearby shopkeepers said it is due to the LPG shortage."For now, Pune's street food culture waits in limbo, its flames quite literally extinguished, its comeback hinging on when the gas supply returns.