Patna: Even as the district administration has initiated necessary steps to tackle the LPG crisis in Patna, students residing in college hostels and private accommodations are navigating the crisis by adopting alternative cooking methods, altering daily menus to reduce gas consumption, and, in some cases, returning to their native places due to uncertainty of food. The crisis, which has heavily impacted the city, has forced many hostel messes to either shut down or shift to traditional fuels.In most Patna University (PU) colleges, the hostels are not running properly, with their messes also not functioning properly. While none of the five hostels of Patna Science College is running its mess at present, students have to manage their meals on their own. College principal Alka said a number of students residing in hostels have left for their homes to stay with their parents, whereas some students are having their meals in some nearby restaurants or dhabas.
The superintendent of Newton Hostel of Science College, Bhavuk Sharma, said he has allowed some students of his hostel to cook their own meals in the hostel’s common room for the time being. “They are somehow managing to cook their meals on kerosene stoves or some sort of charcoal,” he said.Magadh Mahila College (MMC)’s second-year history honours student Priya said the girls living in the college hostel faced some hardships due to the LPG crisis some time back, but now the situation is almost normal. “Now we are getting our meals as per the menu, and there is no crisis as such,” she said.According to MMC principal N P Varma, the college is really facing great hardship in feeding all the 600 girls residing in its hostel. “The mess contractors have made alternative arrangements of coal-fired stoves and firewood to cook meals, particularly for boiling rice and dal. A separate pandal (tent) has been erected by the side of the main college hostel for cooking the meals,” he said.Tripti Sandilya, a first year engineering student of NIT Patna, said the LPG crisis has adversely affected our menu. The non-vegetarian items are off the menu, and parathas are also missing sometimes. “Due to the LPG crisis, the contractors are using cooking gas miserly and, hence, items requiring prolonged heating are not being served at present,” she said.The director of National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT)-Patna, Rahul Sharma, said there is no hardship as such in meeting the requirement of meals for 200 and odd girls residing in the institute’s hostel. However, the mess contractors have made alternative arrangements for fuel like coal and firewood to cope with any eventuality.However, students residing in private lodges or occupying PG accommodations are grappling with the LPG crisis by skipping meals, switching to pre-packaged food, or relying on limited, high-priced, or, in some cases, partially cooked meals. Several lodges have stopped cooking in-house and are ordering food from outside.Pradeep Vishwakarma, a B N College student residing at a private lodge at Langertoli, pointed out that the prices of food in roadside eateries have gone sky high due to the LPG crisis, and even then, not all items are available every time. Most students are planning to return to their villages, he said.
