LPG shortage hits small hospitals as outstation patients face food shortage

Shankar Koli from Junnar tehsil in Pune district has to wake up early and travel all the way across the city from Shree Samarth hospital at Rasta Peth and return in time to give his diabetic uncle three meals for the day.

Koli’s uncle was admitted to hospital and has beenfacing a challenging situationto ensure three proper meals for his uncle for the last two to three days.

“My uncle Shashikant Sonawane has swelling in his leg and diabetes and hypertension.

He needs a specific diet and there are some good canteens and food stalls around the hospital where I would buy the food.

However, since the last two to three days the food stalls around the hospital have shut down and I have to travel across the city to ensure proper meals for my uncle,” Koli said.

While hospitals fall under the emergency services category and have been assured supplies will not be affected, the LPG cylinder shortage has started impacting small and medium hospitals in the city.

Large hospitals have also started facing the brunt of theshortage that has occurred due to the conflict in West Asia.

Dr Suhas Kalashetti, critical care specialist and director at the hospital, said patients and their relatives from outside the city are facing huge challenges in procuring meals.

“At our 50-bed hospital, at least half of the 150 patients admitted every month are from places aroundPunelike Junnar and Narayangaon.

We have tied up with two vendors for food availability but now can provide only tea and coffee.

We are planning a meeting on Monday to find alternative solutions,” Dr Kalashetti said.

The situation has started getting worrisome across large hospitals too.

On Friday, at the 330-bed Noble hospital, Dr H K Sale, executive director, said they were unsure how they’d supply meals from the next day.

“We had placed an order for five cylinders and can manage patients’ meals till this evening.

Several patients get admitted from peripheral areas and some patients’ relatives are aware that meals are arranged by the hospital.

But in this situation it is getting a bit challenging,” Dr Sale said.

While Deenanath Mangeshkar hospital has piped gas supply, at Sahyadri hospital, authorities said that they are managing with the food supply for now.

At Ruby Hall Clinic, chief coordinating officer Urvaksh Bhote said they were assured that supplies will not be affected.

“However the entire city is facing LPG cylinder shortage and we are not sure how long the situation will last at the hospital as the vendors are also facing a severe crunch,” Bhote said.

Dr Sunil Ingale, president, IMA, Pune, has flagged concern over many small hospitals facing the crisis and cannot fully cater to the food requirements of patients.

Dr Ravindra Chhajed, who runs a 20-bed hospital at Kondhwa-Bibwewadi Road, said that it was important that the government takes measures to allay this widespread panic.

“As an alternative arrangement we have started using induction stoves, but this raises concerns due to the lack of a reliable electricity supply.

For sterilisation of instruments we have purchased an electrical autoclave set.

However we also have to deal at times with the the irregular electricity supply in Pune — especially during the summer,” he said.

At Sassoon General Hospital, dean Dr Eknath Pawar said they have not yet faced any major upsets caused by the shortage.

“We have our supply of cylinders and freshly cooked, hot meals are provided twice a day for inpatients,” Dr Pawar said.

The Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati Trust provides daily free nutritious meals to patients and relatives from the economically weaker section of society.

According to Mahesh Suryavanshi, treasurer of the trust, earlier they had renovated the hospital kitchen installing high capacity modern equipment to support this initiative.

“At least 3000 people including patients are given meals twice daily,” he added
Anuradha Mascarenhas is a Senior Editor at The Indian Express, based in Pune.

With a career spanning three decades, she is one of the most respected voices in Indian journalism regarding healthcare, science and environment and research developments.

She also takes a keen interest in covering women's issues .

Professional Background
Education: A gold medalist in Communication and Journalism from Savitribai Phule Pune University and a Master’s degree in Literature.

Author: She authored the biography At The Wheel Of Research, which chronicles the life and work of Dr.

Soumya Swaminathan, the former Chief Scientist at the WHO.

Key Focus: She combines scientific accuracy with storytelling, translating complex medical research into compelling public and human-interest narratives.

Awards and Recognition
Anuradha has won several awards including the Press Council of India's national award for excellence in journalism under the gender based reporting category in 2019 and the Laadli Media award (gender sensitivity -2024).

A recipient of the Lokmat journalism award (gender category-2022), she was also shortlisted for the RedInk awards for excellence in journalism-2021.

Her debut book At The Wheel Of Research, an exclusive biography of Dr Soumya Swaminathan the inaugural chief scientist of World Health Organisation was also nominated in the Popular Choice Category of JK Paper AUTHER awards.

She has also secured competitive fellowships including the Laadli Media Fellowship (2022), the Survivors Against TB – New Research in TB Media Fellowship (2023) and is part of the prestigious 2025 India Cohort of the WomenLift Health Leadership Journey.”
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Anuradha is known for her COVID-19 reportage, where she was one of the first journalists to provide detailed insights into the Covishield and Covaxin trials.

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