Only about half of the urban slum households exclusively use LPG for cooking, according to a survey report released on Wednesday by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).
In spite of 86 per cent of the urban slum households having an LPG connection, about 45 per cent continue to use polluting cooking fuel – in what is known as “fuel stacking”.
Survey method
For the study, CEEW surveyed over 650 households across urban slums in Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. The six states account for nearly a quarter of India’s urban slum population.
Pollution exposure
About 16 per cent of the households are still using traditional fuels such as firewood, dung cakes, agriculture residue, charcoal, and kerosene as their primary fuel and over a third are stacking LPG with these polluting fuels.
The study also found that only about 45 per cent of households use LPG as their primary fuel during winter.
Further, three-fourths of the households using polluting fuels, cook inside the main house, and two-thirds do not have a chimney for ventilation. “This indicates high exposure to household air pollution, primarily for women and children,” the study said.
“A significant share of the urban slum population is struggling to afford using LPG for all their cooking, especially due to the rising fuel prices and the economic impact of the pandemic,” said Shaily Jha, Research Analyst at CEEW and lead author of the study.