Steep prices smoke out LPG in rural Karnataka, villages shift back to traditional firewood

March 15, 2021

BENGALURU : The country’s first village that bid goodbye to traditional cooking fuels, like wood, and went smokeless was Vyachakurahalli from Chikkaballapur district in 2015. But in 2021, six years down the line, thousands of households, especially in rural Karnataka, are contemplating switching back to firewood or coal for cooking and ditching gas stoves as LPG prices have skyrocketed over the last year.

Under the much-hyped Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), women below the poverty line get a free gas cylinder and subsidised refills to wean them away from unhealthy cooking fuels to make villages smoke-free.
Though a release from Indian Oil Corporation Ltd stated that a 7.3 per cent increase has been seen in overall LPG consumption between December 2020 and February 2021, a reality check by The New Indian Express suggests otherwise.
In rural parts of Karnataka, including in Mysuru, Kalaburagi, Chikkaballapur, Chikkamgaluru, Uttara Kannada and other districts, many households are using LPG only as an emergency option and have not got refills over the last many months.

Nothing is Ujjwala, everything dark here, rues Koppal villager

“I have a cylinder at home. It will get over in a couple of weeks and I will not get it refilled as a cylinder costs Rs 980 in our village. Ours is a big family and we cannot afford such a high cost every month. We have shifted back to firewood for cooking,” said Mahantesh Ramappa Hosamani, a Karyakartha, Coolie Karmikara Sangha, at Aihole village of Bagalkot district.
“It is not just our home, but almost every household in our village and those in Hungund taluk have completely stopped using LPG after the price hike,” he added. The cost of the cylinder has gone up by Rs 175 in the last three months, with the price ranging between Rs 800 and Rs 980 in different parts of the state.
“Nothing is Ujjwala, everything is dark here. If essentials like petrol and LPG cylinders become so expensive, how do we survive? With great difficulty, I convinced my family to switch from firewood to LPG stove. But now, we don’t have money to refill cylinders. We can’t fetch firewood and the government won’t give us kerosene. What do we do,” asked Lakshmamma G from Koppal.
Public health doctors warn of dire health consequences because of the use of wood stoves. Dr Sylvia Karpagam said, “Underlying respiratory disease is one of the significant comorbidities leading to poor outcomes in COVID and other respiratory conditions. Women in rural areas are known to suffer from such respiratory diseases as they use smoke-inducing fuels, like firewood.”

Dr Giridhara Babu R, Senior Epidemiologist and public health expert, said using wood or coal stoves is the leading cause of indoor air pollution, affecting the health of women and children in most rural households.
“Price hike in LPG results in many poor people from rural areas and urban slums switching back to traditional sources of fuel. They use stoves without chimneys or proper ventilation. In some places, people also use empty cement bags, paper and other material which increase their health risk. The government should take care of vulnerable sections,” he said.
Also, many villagers said that they have not received the LPG subsidy for many months. “We have not received subsidies under any scheme. We earlier paid Rs 830 per cylinder and got around Rs 180 as a subsidy. But for the last 10 months, we have not received the subsidy,” said Mahantesh, a social activist from HD Kote, Mysuru.
According to a recent study conducted in Koppal by the University of British Columbia, an average rural family needs at least 10 cylinders weighing 14.2 kg to fulfil their cooking needs for a year. But under the Ujjwala scheme, women are availing less than four refills.
Food and Civil Supplies Minister Umesh Katti said, “I am aware of the problems being faced by the people. I am in Delhi and will address this issue by speaking to the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas.”