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Photo: Premraj Simkhada/TRN Women carrying firewood from nearby jungle in Kalikot.

The regular workload for most women in Kalikot has increased due to a gas shortage in the market. Due to a gas shortage, women are forced to go to the forest to gather firewood for cooking.

Even from the city areas of the district, people are forced to go to the forest to collect firewood in recent days, as the gas supply has been affected across the country due to the war between Iran and America.

Unavailability of the gas in the market has a direct impact on women, as often, many men are out of the house, and women are forced to manage the household in remote areas.

Reshma Bishwakarma, 28, of Khandachakra Municipality-4, said that every morning is considered an additional burden to her. She has been using gas stoves for the past nine years, and now she feels that the hard times have started after the shortage of gas.

According to Bishwakarma, due to the shortage of gas, women have to go to the forest to find firewood, and the workload has increased.

The price of a cylinder that was available for Rs. 2,000 in Kalikot before the elections has now reached Rs. 2,800. The price of rice and cooking oil has also increased.

Similarly, Sumitra Bishwakarma of the same village said that she had to go to the forest three hours away from her home in the morning to find firewood.

She said that the new government should focus on controlling price increases.

Sumitra, who is preparing for the 11th-grade examination, complained that she had to leave her preparation for the examination and go to find firewood.

Ravilal Pandey, president of the Palt Mahadev Community Forest Users Committee, stated that the number of forest users collecting firewood from the forest has doubled since last month.

Pandey is concerned that the risk of cutting down green trees has also increased, as many people have started going to the forest. Locals said that the lack of gas has affected every family in Raskot Municipality, where firewood is also not available properly.

After the Karnali Highway and Corridor came into operation, 60 per cent of households in Khandachakra, Tilagufa, Raskot Municipality, Narharinath, and Pachaljharana Rural Municipality of Kalikot have been using gas for cooking.

According to Surya Bahadur Shahi, a gas seller based in Khandachakra, at least 40 percent of households in Shubhakalika, Mahabai, Sannitriveni, and Palata Rural Municipality use gas for cooking.

By Premraj Simkhada