Mangaluru: An LPG shortage has forced several institutions in the city to temporarily shut down hostel kitchens, send students home, and modify meal services as supplies remain uncertain.Athena Group of Institutions, which has over 700 students, has asked hostel inmates to return home on Saturday after failing to secure sufficient cooking gas to continue operations. Sr Deepa Peter, principal of Athena Institute of Health Sciences, said that students from nursing and allied health science courses were informed that hostel services had to be suspended due to the LPG crisis. “We asked them to go home, classes have been shifted online, and their return to campus will be communicated once the situation improves,” she said.Two other nursing colleges also took similar steps, with staff confirming that students were sent home on Saturday.The crisis left many campuses scrambling for temporary solutions. While some institutions were considering hostel closures if the disruption continued, others turned to alternative fuel sources such as firewood to keep essential cooking going. Several colleges have tweaked menus.At Alva’s Education Foundation, Moodubidire, which houses more than 17,000 hostel inmates, authorities have shifted to using firewood to cook only rice, and have trimmed the menu to manage the shortage. Managing trustee Vivek Alva said the institution decided to centralise rice preparation using a wood fire and distribute it across all hostels. “For the past week, due to the shortage of LPG, we have been cooking rice using firewood at a single location, and distributing it to all hostels,” he said.He added that items such as dosa were removed from the menu as they consume more LPG during preperation. Despite the strain, the institution chose not to send students home, citing academic concerns and ongoing examinations. “We made these arrangements as we cannot send inmates home since it would affect their education. Also, for many of our students, it is exam time, and we had to take these steps to tide over the situation,” Alva said.Other institutions also revised menus instead of suspending hostel services entirely. A spokesperson for Yenepoya (deemed to be university) said dishes such as dosa and parotta were removed from the menu.
