Low income families in the capital turn to clay stoves

The ongoing gas shortage in Dhaka has caused severe hardship for households, hotels, restaurants and small businesses in many parts of the capital. In some areas, there is no gas throughout the day, while in others, gas is available only late at night at very low pressure. As a result, many families have been forced to rely on LPG cylinders, electric stoves or alternative fuels. But what can low income people do? They can afford electric heaters costing only between Tk 300 and Tk 500. Even those heaters are no longer practical because electricity has become expensive.

As a result, low income families in the capital have started using clay stoves to cope with the gas shortage. However, those already burdened with hardship seem to face difficulties from every direction. Continuous rainfall has now led to a shortage of firewood. Because of this, many families are cooking only one meal a day with firewood, while in some places three or four families are cooking together.

A woman cooks on a clay stove. Photo: Ashikur Rahman

The gas shortage is severe in the Nobodoy Housing area of Mohammadpur in the capital. As a result, women in some households in the area are cooking on clay stoves because there is no gas supply. The shortage of firewood caused by the rain has also forced many families to cook only one meal a day. During the ongoing gas crisis, several families in Nobodoy Housing in Mohammadpur have now turned to clay stoves. The same picture was seen in the Town Hall area and on Sher Shah Suri Road.

Housewife Amena was cooking on a clay stove. She said, “Without gas in the pipeline, cooking becomes difficult for us. Buying LPG cylinders is very expensive for us. Buying an electric stove is also costly. With no other option, we have found that this clay and cement stove is our only hope. It is causing some problems, but what else can we do?”

A woman cooks on a clay stove in Nobodoy Housing. Photo: Ashikur Rahman

Cooking on clay stoves also comes with challenges. Families have to collect firewood. However, amid the gas shortage, housewife Khushi said it still seems to be the easiest option. But continuous rainfall has made it difficult to find dry firewood.

“It was not very difficult to collect firewood. But it has been raining for the past few days. We can buy it from wood shops. There is no firewood there either. We are now cooking only one meal a day.”

Meanwhile, visits to the suburban areas of the capital found that low income people are gradually becoming accustomed to using clay stoves on a regular basis. In many areas including Postogola, Kamrangirchar, Bhatara and Jatrabari, low income residents are choosing clay stoves as an alternative to gas.

Meanwhile, officials of Titas Gas said the shortage is unlikely to be fully resolved soon because of supply deficits and various pipeline related problems. They said they are trying to gradually restore normal gas pressure. However, they indicated that residential consumers may continue to face hardship for some time.