The HungerGames is the new challenge, what shall people eat?

LPG gas price is increasing every day and at a frighteningly fast rate. Will people die of hunger? Is starvation of people the new battleground for the dirty battle of politics? How will people survive this battle? What are the answers to this crisis? Is there joy to this ode?

Photo by Roya ann miller on Unsplash

Dear reader,

Some days ago the gas cylinder at our house was extinguished and there was no more fuel left in it. My mother took out her mobile phone to book a gas cylinder. After she booked the gas, she said that gas prices were increasing quite rapidly. I was curious, I surfed google and was shocked and frightened, and a bitter cold shiver ran down my spine. Then after some researches and reading some interviews I got inspired to write this post today.

While cloud kitchen technology is enjoying a dominant position in the marketplace of software. Many people are staying hungry in the villages. People are suffering and becoming poor day by day by day. We talk of the economic development of the great nation India but what kind of development is this, what development is occurring by exploiting the people of the nation. Only a handful of traders are developing and prospering in their relative fields.

I heard recordings of many people and this is the most detailed context. Pardon my translation most of the interviews were in vernacular languages like Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Bengali.

“I ordered a 14.5 kg gas cylinder on 13 th August and then even after 3 weeks I did not receive my cylinder … every time I contacted the support team I was turned down by them, as they kept increasing the time of arrival … I had to reorder at a much higher price”, a resident from Hooghly, interview courtesy ABP Ananda.

Let us look at some shocking numbers that don't lie; I hoped they did. I have gathered the prices of LPG gas from different months, to be specific from 2013 December to 2021 September of Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai. I hope they would send you some insights. Data is changing newsrooms around the world and this is my 4 th data journal. I will put below a link to the data, interactive plots and visualizations, and of course the numbers.

The data — click the link to open the sheet.

According to the current scenario, Kolkata has the highest rates of all the 4 major cities that are listed. We faced similar issues in the year 2014 as well. At that time the rates were as high as 1200 rs. and soon after in 2015 things took a turn after the LIBERALISATION, PRIVATISATION, and GLOBALISATION were introduced to the Indian market and it was like India's comeback, as a new revival.

The prices were as low as 450 rs. But then it again all started falling apart yet again to increased during the pandemic and not only pandemic but also before that, from 2017 to be specific.

The scary numbers and the whole truth

Histogram of LPG gas price from Dec 2013 to Sep 2021.

If you were to start buying LPG gases from 2013 December and you are from Delhi then:-

1. You having already paid 76,840 rs. for the sole purpose.
2. On average each month you pay at least 708 rs.
3. you were fortunate enough to once get to pay prices as low as 467 rs. and were unfortunate in paying 1241 rs.

Histogram of LPG gas price from Dec 2013 to Sep 2021.

If you were to start buying LPG gases from 2013 December and you are from Kolkata then:-

1. You having already paid 79,838 rs. for the sole purpose.
2. On average each month you pay at least 733 rs.
3. you were fortunate enough to once get to pay prices as low as 491 rs. and were unfortunate in paying 1270 rs.

Histogram of LPG gas price from Dec 2013 to Sep 2021.

If you were to start buying LPG gases from 2013 December and you are from Mumbai then:-

1. You having already paid 76,570 rs. for the sole purpose.
2. On average each month you pay at least 703 rs.
3. you were fortunate enough to once get to pay prices as low as 468 rs. and were unfortunate in paying 1273 rs.

Histogram of LPG gas price from Dec 2013 to Sep 2021.

If you were to start buying LPG gases from 2013 December and you are from Chennai then:-

1. You having already paid 77,930 rs. for the sole purpose.
2. On average each month you pay at least 715 rs.
3. you were fortunate enough to once get to pay prices as low as 478 rs. and were unfortunate in paying 1234 rs.

Now I present a clumsy visualization of a comparative study between all the cities.

Comparative study between all the four cities.

While a lot of political speculations and speeches are popping up on this matter, we are unable to get to the bottom of the problem. Whilst the BJP government promises to reduce the price for the poor via the Ujjwala Scheme, on speaking to people we see no change at all in the position of the people. But we are paying 117% more than the prices fixed by Saudi Aramco. The numbers I mentioned might not seem too much but it is when cumulated for a poor person. There is a rise in the price of water, electricity, vegetables, fruits, medicine and vaccine. If we accumulate everything and compare it with the average salary of an adult citizen in India then we see that a person is left with 13000 at the end of the month for other expenses, which includes varied taxes, loan instalments, rents, fees, school fees, fees for education and other amenities, spare alone the television or other forms of recreation like travelling and eating at restaurants. People can hardly save some money. Moreover, many people are unemployed nowadays and are actively losing jobs. I have data journals for them as well, check out those for more fresh insights.

People living in urban areas are finding innovative solutions like using CNG and BioGas from Methane and many many more. The rural people are turning towards using wood like timber and using fuels like dry cow dung and the outer flaky covering of the coconut, and leaves and branches of sal, coconut and palm trees. All these different ways produce pollens, cause pollution and large amounts of waste materials is produced. Many rural people are using cow dung to generate methane empowered BioGas.

Thank you for reading, hope you got some insights on how life here is and what story the data of price of LPG cylinders can tell about. Let us hope that we have a better future and let us use more sustainable means of energy like BioGas. Take care, stay safe. Covid variant MU is extremely dangerous so try staying at home. Have a good day and keep reading.