LPG crunch revives chullahs in Punjab & Himachal hinterland
A quiet calm prevails across most of the region’s rural scape as villagers turn to good old chullahs amid a raging LPG crunch. Dwellers across villages of Punjab and remote Himachal Pradesh have begun reviving their hearths with the government yesterday permitting a switch to alternative fuels like coal and firewood as cooking gas stocks are prioritised.
A visit today to some villages in Jalandhar and Kangra revealed a clear contrast between the city where urban dwellers are consumed with panic booking of gas and villages where women are happily preparing traditional flavoured meals on their mud chullahs. “Saade layi koi khaas dikkat nahin aani, pareshani zyada shehar vaaleya nu aayegi (we won’t face much difficulty; it is the urban dwellers who will feel the pinch),” says Sarwan Singh, a resident of Lohian in Jalandhar, pointing to his family’s preferred meals — “makki di roti, kaali daal and sarson da saag”.
Sarwan says even if the ongoing conflict prolongs, switching to chullahs won’t be a problem because almost every Punjab village household has a hearth even today. It’s just a question of reviving the traditional cooking practice that relies on firewood and coal — both permitted for use by the state pollution control boards after Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri yesterday said alternative fuels would be permitted. Puri also said rural and remote areas would have a 45-day booking period gap for a new cylinder as against 25 days in cities.
No wonder villagers are adapting fast. In Jalandhar’s Gatta Mundi Kasu village, Sukhjit Kaur has returned to making rotis on the challah that was lying unused for years. Nasirpur villager Deepak Kumar has a cylinder at home but is using a challah for primary meals.
In Kangra too, the story is no different. Mud-built fireplaces which villagers had abandoned after receiving subsidised LPG connections under the Centre’s Ujjwala scheme have now been revived. Sushma Devi, a daily-wage worker from Sudher village near Dharamsala, says she has been cooking the family’s main meals on the challah and preserving her LPG cylinder for urgent needs like tea.
Rajni and Saroj from Nandpur village in Dehra subdivision said they were relishing the renewed experience of cooking on the traditional hearth — a practice deeply rooted in the culture of joint Punjab which was reorganised into three states in 1966. Many villagers have even refurbished their old fireplaces, happily rediscovering the flavours that have long gone missing in these times of instant foods.
