Two-thirds of rural families used firewood for cooking: Report

New Delhi: Two of every three families in villages used firewood for cooking during July, 2011 to June, 2012 period whereas in cities, only 14 per cent families were dependent on it, says a government report.

"At all India level, firewood and chips were used by more than two-third (67.35) of rural households, followed by LPG, which was used by 15 per cent households," said a National Sample Survey Organisation study based on NSS 68th round of survey carried out during July, 2011 to June, 2012.

According to the study titled 'Energy Sources of Indian Households for Cooking and Lighting 2011-12', only 9.6 per cent and 1.1 per cent of the rural households used dung cakeand coke and coal, respectively, as primary source of energy for cooking.

However, 1.3 per cent rural families did not have any arrangement for cooking. It said that in cities, LPG (cooking gas) was used by 68.4 per cent of the urban households at all-India level, followed by firewood and chips, used by 14 per cent families.

About 5.7 per cent families used kerosene whereas 6.9 per cent households did not have any arrangement for cooking.

In villages, the proportion of families dependent on firewood and chips for cooking exceeded 56 per cent in all major states except Punjab and Haryana.

Dung cake was one of the major fuels for cooking for 33.4 per cent of rural families in Uttar Pradesh, 30.3 per cent in Punjab, 24.4 per cent in Haryana, 20.8 per cent in Bihar and 10.6 per cent in Madhya Pradesh.

In rural India, compared to other states, incidence of use of LPG for cooking in families was much higher for Tamil Nadu (37.2 per cent), Kerala (30.8 per cent) and Punjab (30.5 per cent).

Use of LPG was least in Chhattisgarh (1.5 per cent) followed by Jharkhand (2.9 per cent) and Odisha (3.9 per cent).

Nearly 40 per cent or more of the families in cities used LPG as principal fuel for cooking in all the major states. It was highest in Haryana (86.5 per cent), followed by Andhra Pradesh (77.3 per cent), Punjab (75.4 per cent) and Maharashtra (74.5 per cent).

The use of LPG by households in cities was the lowest in Chattisgarh (39.8 per cent). In cities, dependence on firewood and chips for cooking was highest in Odisha (36.5 per cent) followed by Kerala (36.3 per cent) and Chattisgarh (34.7 per cent).

In villages, percentage of families depending on firewood & chips dropped by 8.2 percentage points to 67.3 per cent in 2011-12 from the level in since 1999-2000.

The percentage of families in villages using LPG has increased from about 5.4 per cent in 1999-2000 to 15.0 per cent in 2011-12.

The dependence on firewood & chips for cooking in cities urban areas has fallen from about 22.3 per cent families to 14.0 per cent between 1999-2000 and 2011-12.

Similarly, the incidence of dependence on kerosene in cities has severely dropped from 21.7 per cent families to 5.7 per cent households during the same period.

The urban households using LPG has increased from 44.2 per cent to 68.4 per cent during the period under review.

The report is based on information collected during 2011-12 from 1,01,651 households (59,683 rural and 41,968 urban) in 7,469 villages and 5,268 urban blocks spread over the entire country.