Kamal Ghorui
– 06-04-2026: People switch to cooking over woodfire stove due to LPG prices and erratic supply at Bawana in Delhi on Monday. _________ JATIN KUMAR
– 06-04-2026: People switch to cooking over woodfire stove due to LPG prices and erratic supply at Narela in Delhi on Monday. _________ JATIN KUMAR
– 06-04-2026: People switch to cooking over woodfire stove due to LPG prices and erratic supply at Narela in Delhi on Monday. _________ JATIN KUMAR
– 06-04-2026: People switch to cooking over woodfire stove due to LPG prices and erratic supply at Narela in Delhi on Monday. _________ JATIN KUMAR
– 06-04-2026: People switch to cooking over woodfire stove due to LPG prices and erratic supply at Bawana in Delhi on Monday. _________ JATIN KUMAR
– 06-04-2026: People switch to cooking over woodfire stove due to LPG prices and erratic supply at Narela in Delhi on Monday. _________ JATIN KUMAR
– 06-04-2026: People switch to cooking over woodfire stove due to LPG prices and erratic supply at Narela in Delhi on Monday. _________ JATIN KUMAR
New Delhi: Avdesh, a factory worker in Narela, must make a stark choice: spend Rs 4,000 — almost half of his monthly income of Rs 9,000 — on an LPG cylinder or turn to firewood. Either option comes at a price, eating into his meagre earnings and forcing him to compromise on rent, food and children’s education.For most migrant workers trapped in a similar quandary, the strain since the beginning of March is proving unsustainable, prompting many to leave Delhi for now and return to their native places, where they don’t have to pay rent and cooking fuel is easier to access.The dilemma faced by Avdesh is currently playing out across the city as migrant workers in industrial areas like Okhla, Tughlaqabad, Narela, Bawana and Rohini struggle with rising LPG prices and an erratic supply. Also, nagging rumours of a lockdown have shaken them up, with many choosing to leave Delhi, still haunted as they are by the frightening memories of the mass exodus during the lockdown at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.According to representatives of workers’ unions, the number of those who have left Delhi since the current crisis began runs into the thousands. For them, the reliance on the black market in the absence of a stable gas connection was unsustainable.Parveen Ravi, a member of Indian National Migrant Workers’ Union, pointed to the scale of the disruption. Narela has thousands of factories and employs nearly a lakh workers. According to her, many of them have already left. “The workers can’t afford cooking gas now, several factories that depended on LPG have either shut down or slowed operations, and the fear of another lockdown has only added to the uncertainty,” she says.For those who have stayed back, daily life has become a tricky process of constant adjustment. Afsha, who has lived in Narela for three years, now cooks on a chulha after LPG became unaffordable. “Even basic alternatives, including cow-dung cakes, have become dearer: from two for Re 1 to one for Rs 2,” she says, adding that her family is planning to return to their village in Bihar during the summer vacations.In many houses, the pressure of making ends meet has led to difficult decisions about who stays and who leaves. Banwari, a worker in Bawana, has sent his family back to Bulandshahar, his hometown, to reduce expenses. “I now live alone and manage with small quantities of LPG,” he says, adding he will think of bringing his family back only when the situation improves.The speed at which the prices have risen has left many struggling to keep up. Subodh Karmokar, a migrant worker from West Bengal, recalls how a cylinder that was once available informally for around Rs 1,000 began rapidly going out of reach. “Within the first couple of weeks of the war, it rose to Rs 1,700 and has now crossed Rs 4,000. I managed to get one with the help of a relative and thought I would use it only to make tea. But it didn’t last long,” he says.The handful of workers who’ve stayed back are turning to firewood and other traditional fuels, but these, too, are no longer cheap. Savita, who stays in Narela, says firewood, which once offered a cheaper alternative, has nearly doubled in price.Kusum, a migrant from Jhansi, says that since running out of cylinders, she and her husband have switched to a chulha and are cooking just once a day.Deep Khatri, who owns some factories in Narela, says the area and four surrounding villages where around 60,000 migrant workers stay on rent, are now bleeding due to a severe housing crisis. “Eighty to 90% of these workers have left. As a result, the rooms that are given on rent are now empty. In my village, 25 out of 30 rooms are currently vacant.”Alam, a local, says, “Tenants who have chosen to stay back are among the worst affected. In addition to coping with rising fuel prices, they must continue paying rent. Moreover, many landlords do not allow them to cook on chulhas indoors. This leaves families with few viable options, especially in densely populated areas where space is limited.”Rakesh Kumar, Delhi president of Indian National Migrant Workers’ Union, says the crisis has hit almost all working-class communities across the city. “With incomes hovering around Rs 12,000 a month on average and a cylinder costing nearly a third of that, the workers are being pushed to make impossible choices between rent, education and basic sustenance,” he says.A similar trend is visible in Rohini. Labour representative Hariprasad says the crisis has sharply increased the financial burden on daily wagers, with fuel prices rising beyond what they can afford. A few thousand have already left Rohini and the city, with crowded trains from the city reflecting the growing outflow, he adds.
