Smokeless chulhas for women to combat indoor air pollution is one of the primary priority areas for West Bengal’s new environment minister Chandrima Bhattacharya.
“There are so many focus areas such as combating air pollution, climate change and likewise, but I would like to emphasise on reducing women’s ordeal from air pollution by providing them with smokeless chulhas. I am told that because of the rising price of cooking gas, many families are finding it difficult and smokeless chulhas may be a good alternative,” the minister said in an exclusive interview with this correspondent. Bhattacharya is the ninth environment minister in the 13 years of the Trinamul Congress regime so far.
The West Bengal Pollution Control Board has distributed about 4,000 smokeless chulhas in several parts of the state, including Kolkata, and the minister wants to continue the programme, said a senior West Bengal Pollution Control Board official. According to sources, nearly 1.1 crore households in West Bengal use solid fuels for cooking and talks are on with the World Bank to acquire funds for large-scale conversion to smokeless chulhas, particularly among socio economically weaker families, who are most affected by the indoor pollution from burning of fuels such as kerosene and dung.
The State of India’s Environment 2024, a report published by Down to Earth run by environment think-tank Centre for Science and Environment, lists air pollution among the top risk factors contributing to fatal diseases in West Bengal and respiratory infections and tuberculosis are the second biggest causes of death in the state.