Due to gas shortages and rising prices, many families in Kalikot have started going to the forest to collect firewood again, which has brought additional hardship to women's lives.
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Nanka Bishwakarma of Khadachakra-4 had been cooking on LP gas for 7 years. She said that after finding firewood around the settlement, she bought a stove and a gas cylinder with a regulator for Rs 7,700 from the local Tadi market.
Her family is now facing problems cooking on gas. With the shortage of gas in the market and the increase in its price, family members have started going to the forest to find firewood. ‘We had already got used to cooking on gas,’ she said, ‘now the old custom has come back.’ The gas stove had made things easier for women. The compulsion to cook while shedding tears in the smoke was removed and time was also saved. According to her, after the road from Tadi village to Jumla was opened under the Karnali Highway, most of them had purchased gas and stoves, even if they had to work as wage laborers.
Reshma Bishwakarma, 28, of Khadachakra-4, said that the days of sorrow had begun. Her family had been burning gas stoves for 9 years. “The prices of food, vegetables and oil have increased, making it difficult to survive,” she said. “We got used to burning gas stoves, but now the prices have increased and it is impossible to buy them.” According to her, the price of a cylinder that used to cost 2,000 rupees before the election has now reached 2,400 rupees. The prices of rice and cooking oil have also increased. She said that after 9 years of not going to the forest to collect firewood, she had to go back to her old ways.
On Friday morning, 19-year-old Laika Bishwakarma was among a group of 8 women returning from the Sallibadi forest, 3 hours away from home, to collect firewood. She said that the new government should focus on controlling price increases. "Now, due to the increase in gas prices, we have to go to the forest to find firewood," she said. "If the price continues to rise like this, it is impossible to say that the poor will not be able to walk." She said that she has not been able to meet her expenses after the recent increase in vehicle fares. She, who is studying in the 11th grade, complained that she had to leave school and go to find firewood.
Ravilal Pandey, chairman of the Palt Mahadev Community Forest Users' Committee, said that the number of people going to the forest to find firewood has doubled since the beginning of Chaitra. According to him, many people used to burn gas earlier. "It has become difficult to get gas," he said. "After the price increased, people went to find firewood more." He said that there was a shortage of firewood due to deforestation. He said that since the community forest has tightened the firewood policy, locals used to go 6 hours away to get firewood. Local Sarju Baral said that the shortage of gas in Raskot Municipality, where firewood is not available, has hit everyone hard.
After the Karnali Highway and Corridor came into operation, 60 percent of households in Khadachakra, Tilagufa, Raskot Municipality, Narharinath, and Pachaljharana Rural Municipality in Kalikot have been using LP gas for cooking. Surya Bahadur Shahi, a gas seller based here, said that 40 percent of households in Shubhakalika, Mahabai, Sanni Triveni, and Palata Rural Municipality use gas.
‘Gas is being consumed in every village,’ he said. ‘Nowadays, sales have also decreased since half cylinders started coming.’ He said that it is difficult to get gas easily due to price hikes and shortages. Ratan Bahadur Shahi, president of the Kalikot Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that along with the increase in the prices of gas and oil, other goods have also become more expensive.
