Hostels and eateries switch to coal amid LPG crisis in Patna

Patna: Amid the ongoing LPG cylinder crisis and panic situation in Patna, which houses a large student population and hundreds of hostels, hostel owners and cooks have started turning to traditional cooking methods.Many are now using coal and wood due to the widespread unavailability of commercial cylinders and the staggered distribution of household cylinders.Deepak Kumar, who runs a Chinese food stall in a student-dominated locality, said his available gas would last only seven more days.“Students heavily rely on his food, but he will have to close down in a few days because fast food cannot be made over coal or wood,” he said.

Prince Kumar Sharma, who has been running hostels since 2014 and operates nine branches in Patna, began using coal for cooking in his hostels from Thursday.“Approximately 10kg of coal per meal is needed to feed 125 people in my Anandpuri hostel,” he said.He added that hostel residents have been cooperative and are being served cold breakfasts as a temporary arrangement.Sharma also said that he cannot shut down the hostels until coaching centres suspend classes, though vendors currently do not have gas cylinders available.

Another hostel operator, Vikash Kumar, who runs 15 hostels in the city and has been in the business for 15 years, houses around 1,000 students.“Instead of 2 types of sabzi, only 1 is being made for now. It costs Rs 20 per kg of coal, and 40kg is required in a day for all the meals,” he said.Dilip, a cook working in one of the hostels, said the situation has made cooking difficult.“It is very difficult cooking with coal, as it is not only time-consuming but also very difficult because of the amount of smoke that comes out,” he said.