Gas oven out of reach for many: Bakeries oppose green-fuel notice

Bakers' association says using electricity to bake pav, bread is not economically feasible for them

- Linah Baliga

MUMBAI: Close on the heels of charcoal merchants and restaurants opposing the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's ban on charcoal tandoors, city bakers too have expressed concern about the notice and court order to change their fuel from the traditional wood fire/diesel to gas or electricity. The India Bakers' Association (IBA) has written to MLA Rahul Narwekar saying that many of its bakeries have operated for over five decades, some for a century, and traditional pav, a staple food of Mumbaikars, has always been baked in wood-fired ovens or bhattis.

"These bhattis have a dome structure made with bricks and mortar and are suited for wood firing as the only source of heat," IBA president Khodad Irani wrote in the letter. "Each oven has a dimension of 12x12 feet and an area of around 150 sq ft. The ovens are designed to accept firewood as the main source of heating. Firewood burns at a slow rate, turning into coal which continues to give heat throughout the day."

Irani has claimed that the wood-burning process in ovens lasts for only 30 minutes to two hours, depending on the bakery's shifts, resulting in minimal smoke pollution. After this, the coal retains heat through low combustion. The ovens, moreover, are equipped with chimneys that meet the BMC's height regulations, the letter points out.

Calling the ban on bhattis "unviable and issued at short notice", the IBA letter states that using electricity to bake pav, bread, buns and brun is economically unfeasible for the current 150-sq-ft, dome-shaped ovens. It also maintains that switching to LPG or PNG "presents significant risks". "Each bakery would require at least 10 LPG cylinders, with some stocking up to 25 cylinders, creating a serious fire and explosion hazard," states the letter.