Click to play videoSrinagar: With fuel prices in Maharashtra being slashed, there is no relief from the kerosene oil crisis for people in Srinagar.
“I do not know about survival but I feel that the age of woods has come back. We may have to survive on woods now,” says Guhlam Rasool.
The crisis of kerosene is not the only reason for Rasool to get unnecessarily paranoid about. Along with a dip in temperature, winters in Srinagar are also marked by long power cuts.
What really bothers Rasool is that very soon he may not even be able to afford enough light for his daughter to study.
At Rs 10 per litre Rasool gets seven litres of kerosene oil from the government every month which is hardly enough for a family of six.
What if he would need to consume kerosene over and above that limit?
“If we need more kerosene then we have to go five to six km far from here to get it. We get kerosene at Rs 40-45 per litre there so who can afford it?” says Rasool.
With an earning of Rs 3,000 every month, Ghulam doesn't have too many options. His wife, Rafiqa lights up her stove only twice everyday.
And so is the situation that even taking a bath with warm water is considered a luxury.
“It is very difficult. Children who go to school need to bathe so the water has to be heated in the stove,” says Rafiqa.
The government says that it has no choice but to sell kerosene at such high rates in order to stop black marketing.
"At least this ensures that the oil meant for domestic quota goes to them and the commercial sector buys kerosene from the market,” says Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Basharat Ahmad.
However, the irony is that there is plenty of kerosene oil in the market, but for families including Rasool’s, it might be a harsh winter.
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