If you haven’t visited Delhi in April-May in recent years, you have missed out on experiencing 50 degree Celsius. While office bound folks like us are reduced to little more than panting dogs by Delhi’s summer heat, there are millions of individuals across north India who have bear even more intense heat combined with smoke inhalation. Shivam Bhardwaj’s story is about these Indians.
Mr Bhardwaj writes: “As the West Asia war chokes LPG supplies and cylinder prices nearly double, Delhi’s migrant women are back on wood and coal, breathing toxic smoke in intense heat…
In Delhi’s intense summer, working throughout the day on a chulha is dangerous. Temperatures around the chulha remain high, leading to thermal discomfort and heat stress, and the set-up leaves Parveena gasping for breath at the end of the day….
“Yesterday afternoon,” said Parveena, who moved to Delhi from Bihar’s Siwan in 2002, “the heat was so intense that between the smoke and the heat, I started feeling dizzy. I sat under a tree for a while and washed myself with cold water;”
Mr Bhardwaj then shares data on what cooking on chulhas does to women’s health: “Solid fuel like firewood, cow dung and dry grass are highly damaging to health, as IndiaSpend reported in April 2019. Cooking on traditional chulhas leads to incomplete combustion, and emission of particles such as suspended particulate matter, carbon monoxide, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, polyorganic matter and formaldehyde. All these are harmful for respiratory health.
Women and younger children who spend the most time at home are the most vulnerable, we had reported. Exposure to air pollution during pregnancy leads to outcomes such as low birth weight and stillbirth.
In 2022, India saw 113 deaths per 100,000 people due to household air pollution, according to the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change report 2025. For the estimated population of 1.46 billion that year, this works out to 1.65 million deaths from indoor pollution.”
The author then speaks to Vidhya Venugopal, professor of occupational and environmental health at the Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (SRIHER), Chennai. Prof Venugopal explains how the pounding of women’s bodies plays out when they are cooking on chulhas: “Each time a woman cooks over a chulha in this heat, her body is fighting two battles at once—trying to cool down while also breathing in harmful smoke….“It is a killer combination. This is far more dangerous than either problem alone and can quickly lead to exhaustion, dizziness, and breathing difficulties. For women working long hours outdoors, this combination can become a serious health emergency….
“Every time someone cooks over wood or coal in a closed kitchen, they breathe in smoke that is far more toxic than outdoor city pollution,” said Venugopal. “In the short term, this causes burning eyes, coughing, and headaches—but over the years, it quietly damages the lungs and heart, sometimes leading to serious diseases like COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease] or even lung cancer…””
A May 2025 study in Geo Health shows that risk of premature mortality during hot and polluted days was higher than normal days. “The compound increase in PM2.5 and temperature intensity could elevate the risk of fatality,” the study said.
Another study published the same month in Environment International, which analysed 3.6 million deaths across 10 Indian cities between 2008 and 2019, found that air pollution becomes much more dangerous as temperatures rise.””
Given that given the extent of damage to Qatar and Iran’s gas facilities, cooking gas is likely to be in short supply in India for many years to come, what can be done to alleviate the suffering of women cooking on chulhas? “Not much” is the short answer.
“”Migrant workers were never adequately covered by clean fuel access even under conditions of good LPG supply,” said Kalpana Balakrishnan, professor and dean (research) at SRIHER. “The crisis has heightened the need for expanding clean energy access to all vulnerable populations, including the urban poor, who often face risks greater than the rural poor.
“In lower socio-economic status households, cooking expenses account for more than 30% of their limited income. Any financial shock forces them to look for alternatives,” Balakrishnan added.”
As Sankat Kaal rumbles on, access to affordable cooking fuel is likely to become a flashpoint across the nation. We are hearing that in most industrial belts, a substantial proportion of workers have returned to their native villages due to their inability to get affordable cooking gas. This is bound to create labour shortages which seem likely to exacerbate the other supply-side issues that manufacturing firms are already facing.
If you want to read our other published material, please visit https://marcellus.in/blog/
Note: The above material is neither investment research, nor financial advice. Marcellus does not seek payment for or business from this publication in any shape or form. The information provided is intended for educational purposes only. Marcellus Investment Managers is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and is also an FME (Non-Retail) with the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) as a provider of Portfolio Management Services. Additionally, Marcellus is also registered with US Securities and Exchange Commission (“US SEC”) as an Investment Advisor.
MORE FROM Jun WEEK 2
MORE FROM Jun WEEK 2
