Chennai’s isthri workers fuel change by switching to LPG boxes

Replacing smoky, dusty charcoal, the cleaner liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has slowly yet surely become the fuel of choice among the city’s roadside garment pressers.

K. Kasinathan of Thillaiganga Nagar said that though he was initially afraid of getting an LPG-powered iron box, he and his wife Easwari now work with not one but two boxes. “It is very convenient for us. Since I have a roadside pushcart, I can’t have an electric box, which is inconvenient for most labourers. They are okay with the LPG box,” he said.

M. Rajesh, who runs an isthri outlet at Kilpauk Gardens, said the LPG-powered box is safer than the old charcoal boxes. “I can turn the box on or off as I please. There is no waiting time for it to get hot, and I can adjust the heat according to the material. The fuel alone costs me ₹50 a day, whereas I would have to spend ₹150 a day on a charcoal box. However, this box has high maintenance costs. It would be great if we were provided LPG at subsidised prices and high-quality LPG boxes,” he said.

V. Sushil Kumar of Savitha Gas Agency in Adambakkam said that HPCL officials encouraged him to procure LPG boxes from Meerut and sell them at his agency. “I started it as a way to sell the 5 kg cylinders. Though many people find it convenient, some have returned to using charcoal-fired iron boxes. Besides the oil marketing companies, an NGO called Udhyam also offered LPG boxes at subsidised rates for a while, and I worked with them as well. I still provide free service to isthri workers who bought LPG boxes and purchase cylinders from me. I consider it a small contribution to the well-being of isthri workers,” he said.

Sustainable option

Udhyam’s Cyril Joseph, who leads its Istri Project, said that while promoting the cleaner alternative, they also brought several LPG box vendors on board. “We identified some outlets and showed them that there could be a market for these boxes as well. We started with just a hundred isthri workers in the first year of our project. In a little over four years, we have expanded to five cities and reached more than 8,000 isthri workers. This has led to a 50% reduction in fuel costs, extended their working hours, increased the average monthly income per vendor by 25%, and has eliminated more than 6,000 tons of CO₂ emissions annually.”

The trend started around 2018, when Indian Oil Corporation launched LPG-powered iron boxes in the State. Soon, the two other oil marketing companies, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd., also began encouraging isthri workers to use these eco-friendly alternatives.

“At that point, gas distributors, NGOs, and organisations like Lions and Rotary donated boxes. These boxes also created a good opportunity to sell the 5 kg cylinders. To date, the isthri workers use the 5 kg FTL cylinders, which are priced at commercial rates. They form a small niche market, and a small subsidy could go a long way in encouraging them to continue using LPG,” explained an oil industry expert.