In many urban homes, meat used to be cooked two or three days a week, with lentils, fried vegetables or mash alongside the fish, and more on holidays or when guests came. Now families must budget for LPG as well as groceries, and many are cutting the menu first to stay within the same budget.
On Sunday, 4 October, the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) raised the price of a 12 kg LPG cylinder by Tk 252, from Tk 1,585 to Tk 1,837. Until Saturday, cylinders officially priced at Tk 1,585 were often selling in the market for Tk 2,400 to Tk 2,500.
Rina Akter of Keraniganj said meat was once cooked two or three times a week; now she no longer cooks several dishes at once. Ripa Khandaker of Uttara said she used to make four or five dishes and now finds even two besides rice hard. Mizanur Rahman, a primary school teacher in Faridpur, said he pays at least Tk 500 over the BERC price for a cylinder.
Cooking habits are changing to save gas. Lunch is stretched to dinner, and some cook once in the morning for the whole day. Himi Ahmed of Banasree said she now cooks once for two meals and picks food that cooks fast. A homemaker in Basabo has stopped making afternoon snacks and serves biscuits, puffed rice, chanachur or bakarkhani instead.
Hospitality has shrunk as well. A homemaker in Shantinagar said the table used to fill up when guests came; now she tries to make do with pulao, roast and one sweet. The supply shortage of recent days has eased and cylinders are available again, but the new price has brought no relief.
Industry sources attribute the rise to costlier imports: the average price of propane-butane rose from $647.75 to $712.50 a tonne between September and October, and freight and premium from $160 to $250. Four large companies control 70 percent of the market, so a cut in supply by any of them deepens shortages, and dealers and retailers are accused of charging above the set price during a crunch.
The report is by Sanchita Situ of Bangla Tribune.
Photo: Mubinctg / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
Source: Bangla Tribune
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