In Chandigarh, 80-year-old Kishan Singh is figuring out how to get a PNG connection after refusing to get one so far. The frail heart patient who lives alone will have to make rounds of local offices to secure a connection before the three-month deadline mandated by the government on Wednesday.
In Pune, gas is a privilege only for the living, with the municipal corporation issuing a directive to shut down the 18 gas-based crematoriums in the city and only use electric or wood-based facilities. Municipal Commissioner Naval Ram Kishore has said the move is aimed at preventing shortage of cooking gas for households.
Delhi student Aditi Sharma, who is taking her Class 12 Board exams, is factoring in increased food delivery costs as she struggles between history dates and midnight cravings for spicy noodles.
Kitchen Under Siege
As the US-Israel-Iran war continues, squeezing supply of oil and gas and plunging global reserves, the crisis has now trickled down to the masses. Policy directives aim at saving the last ounce of energy, compromising businesses and establishments and upending daily life. Over 20% restaurants and eateries had shut down nationwide by mid-March, with many more facing closure after the government prioritised LPG for domestic use over commercial. And, even though commercial cylinder costs have been hiked by only Rs 144, sourcing one is difficult, with people paying upward of Rs 4,000 per cylinder despite mandated prices of around Rs 1,900.
Roopa Thakur, who runs Mata Di Snacks in Thane, Maharashtra, has two cylinders in stock, and says they are using LPG judiciously, relying more on induction stoves. “We do most prep like chutney from home, and only do major cooking in our canteen,” she says, fearing the day both cylinders run out. Shobha, a 50-year-old woman running an office canteen in Noida, calculates daily how long she can afford to run her business, unable to pass on rising gas costs – over Rs 4,500 per cylinder, which earlier cost Rs 1,700 – to her customers. Her immediate solution is to reduce staff by half to save on wages – a strategy if implemented industrywide will endanger more than 7.3 million jobs.
For 46-year-old Rapido driver R Mahalakshmi in Chennai, counting trips has given way to counting meals. “From three meals to two, I now manage with just one a day, with tea or coffee in between rides,” she says. Living alone, she relies on a 5-kg LPG cylinder that now costs nearly double from a month ago, and is difficult to source. Her attempt to secure a fresh Indane connection ended in disappointment. “I spent over an hour just for an enquiry,” she recalls a visit to a gas agency in Anna Nagar. “They are unable to supply even to existing customers and asked me to come after the second week of April.”
Serpentine queues with irate customers complaining about delayed cylinder delivers, booking issues and wrong supplies are common across the city.
Mahalakshmi earns ₹650-800 a day. After setting aside ₹150-200 for petrol, what remains barely stretches across rent and food. With no gas at home, she depends on roadside meals, but those are getting costlier. “Meals like curd rice and tomato rice that were ₹50 are now ₹70. A dosa has gone from ₹50 to ₹90. Stalls now offer three idlis instead of four for ₹20. It’s not enough to get through the day,” she laments.
The cost of LPG cylinders for domestic use was hiked by Rs 60 on March 7, and while the government has assured uninterrupted supply, people are sceptical of facing a shortage, and are turning to electrical appliances instead. Savita Das (42), who works as a domestic help in Delhi, says there are long queues for cylinders, and she will have to spend an entire day standing in line to source one. For now, she is relying on a coil heater for some of her cooking, while also being apprehensive of the additional electricity charges.
Electric Pivot
In Guwahati, 45-year-old media professional Karan Dhamija (name changed) bought an induction stove fearing an LPG squeeze. He surely found a solution for himself, but with people turning to appliances such as induction stoves – sales of which are spiralling to the extent of hitting availability – the toll on the power bill can be a national challenge. Peak power demand is expected to touch 270 gigawatts during the impending summer, and even as the government has assured of meeting this number, electricity use can be the next crisis that will surely attract cuts, both on commercial and domestic fronts.
With a recent CLSA report indicating that the energy crisis will persist even if the war were to end right away, and oil and LNG prices expected to remain 15-25% above pre-war levels for the next few quarters, daily battles for the common man seem unlikely to end anytime soon.