KENDRAPARA: severe shortage of LPG, triggered by geopolitical tensions in West Asia, has forced people in rural Kendrapara to switch to traditional cow-dung cake for cooking despite the health hazards it poses.
This crisis has caused a massive surge in cow-dung cake demand, with prices doubling and tripling in many rural areas.
Many villagers who live around Bhitarkanika National Park cannot venture into the nearby mangrove forest to collect firewood since it is an offence. That has forced them to depend on cow-dung cakes for cooking, said Prasana Parida, sarpanch of Satabhaya gram panchayat.
Saraswati Das of Bharatpur village recalls she started using LPG during 1990s but before that, it was either fuel wood, coal or cow-dung cakes. “For my generation, switching back to cow-dung cake is not a problem but my daughter-in-law is not accustomed for which now I am helping her,” said the 67-year-old.
Some villagers are modifying their kitchens to accommodate the new fuel. “Since we cannot cook with cow-dung cakes inside our regular kitchen, we built a temporary kitchen in our garden with two earthen chulhas two weeks back,” said Niharika Jena (34), a housewife of Garadapur village.
With cow dung cakes in demand, the production is on the rise and so is the price. Sabi Mandal, a resident of Kansarabadadandua village, is happy making 40 to 70 cow-dung cakes a day to earn around Rs 200 to Rs 300 daily.
Most of the cow-dung cake makers are women and children with no access to educational or other career opportunities. Children constitute the largest number of cow-dung cake makers.
Biraja Pati, a social worker of Kendrapada, said cow dung is not good for health, mostly for the children. “However, most cow-dung makers live below the poverty line and have no choice but to involve their children in this work,” he said.
Former sarpanch of Kharinashi Narayan Haldar said PM Narendra Modi’s Ujjwala Yojana which aimed to replace unclean cooking fuels with LPG has turned into a cruel joke as large numbers of poor people of the district are now depending on cow-dung cakes.
Pati said cow-dung as fuel is a major source of air pollution, causing severe respiratory problems due to high emissions of PM2.5 and toxic compounds. “It increases risks of asthma, tuberculosis and acute infections, often exceeding the health risks posed by burning wood,” added Pati.