Mumbai, June 24 (IANS) Mumbaikars reacted sharply to the hike in diesel, kerosene and cooking gas prices announced by the government late Friday, terming it as "yet another burden" on the people reeling under inflation.

A Mumbai housewife, Minakshi Kalbate said that middle and lower middle-class people are "feeling helpless" with the latest fuel price hikes.

"This is the month when the academic year starts and families are already under stress due to the heavy education expenses, school fees, uniforms, books, etc. Now, we also have to contend with these frequent fuel price hikes," Minakshi said.

Rajesh Upadhyaya, an office-goer who travels from Dahisar in north to Nariman Point in south, said that the latest hike will have an immediate cascading effect. "Now bus, autorickshaw and taxi fares will shoot up, throwing domestic budgets haywire," Upadhyaya remarked.

A Mumbai astrologer Milan Thakar, who moves frequently around the city and state, feels that now commuting will become more expensive for the commoners.

"People will think twice before hailing a cab and prefer to stand in long bus queues. Using private vehicles is already inadvisable in view of the exorbitant price of petrol that we are burdened with," Thakar rued.

An HR consultant, Prashant Pai said that the prices of all essential goods and foods will "automatically shoot up" with the hike in the common man's fuel like diesel, kerosene and cooking gas.

"Nobody wants to bear the burden, everybody passes it on to the common consumer," he said.

The Peasants & Workers Party (PWP), in an early reaction, termed the price hike as "a serious burden" on the common man. "We shall protest and launch an agitation against this," declared PWP general secretary Jayant Patil.