Conflict In West Asia Brings Fear In Kashmir's Kitchens

Summary of this article

• Kashmir faces shortage of gas with long queues witnessed outside the depots

• Complaints of black marketing remain rife

• Authorities have noted that people turned to bulk booking  and due to the breakdown of online systems they couldn’t get the gas

The family of Zeenat Rashid has been following an unusual routine after the joint military strikes by the US and Israel on Iran. The regular power cuts mean that the family can’t cook any meals. The household has run out of gas. When the electricity supply gets restored, a wave of happiness sweeps over them. Zeenat argues with a gas dealer in Srinagar, complaining about the suspension of home delivery services. The dealer assures her that the supplies would be restored before telling her, “We are also cooking meals using firewood at home.”

In Kashmir, the war against Iran and Iran’s retaliatory strikes have seen both men and women line up outside gas depots, and dwindling stocks mean that people’s daily routine has gone haywire. They have given up their work to stand in a queue for a gas cylinder.

The scenes outside the gas delivery points are a throwback to the mid-90s when militancy was at its peak, and the shutdowns would disrupt the fuel supply. People would line up for hours with their jerry cans at depots to replenish their kerosene stocks. With gas now being the main means of cooking in homes as well as commercial establishments, the impact has been harder.

Deputy Director FCS & CA Department, Arjumand Yaqoob, says that the Jammu and Kashmir UT has received a “significant allocation” of kerosene from the Central government, and the government is looking at working out a mechanism to distribute it. “Our effort is to ensure that alternate fuel is available to people. The use of kerosene had stopped for several years here due to the saturation that was achieved in the supply of gas as a clean energy resource. We would now restart its distribution. We may have to reissue the licenses to old dealers, and distribution points will also be set up,” she says.

Zeenat, who owns a tailoring shop, has been visiting the local LPG depots in Srinagar for several days but has not been able to find a gas cylinder. “The gas shortage has badly impacted us ahead of Eid. We are able to cook only when there is electricity,” says Zeenat, waiting in a queue at a gas depot. “I don’t know how to cook for Eid, for which we have to prepare a range of feasts.”

The delivery of gas at the depots has been erratic, with people returning home disappointed due to the non-availability of stocks. Some people have started using firewood for cooking. Supplies have also been cut to hotels and restaurants, disrupting their services. Complaints of gas being sold at higher rates in the black market also remain rife.

Ghulam Mohammad Dhobi, a resident of central Kashmir’s Budgam district, says that he had to skip his daily labour job to stand in line for a cylinder, but has not been able to find one for several days. “The situation is very bad, and only those people get the gas who purchase it from the black market at higher rates.”

Joint Director, Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs FCS&CA Department Kashmir, Shaheena Khan, says that the market-checking teams are ensuring that gas dealers don’t resort to black marketing. “Our market-checking squads are in the field, and we are intensifying our inspections to curb the instances of black marketing.”

As the war drags on, authorities admit that the bookings placed by consumers for the cylinders didn’t help with the delivery of gas, attributing the snag to the bulk orders. Yaqoob says that the bulk booking of gas has worsened the “supply scenario in Kashmir.” “It is an OTP-based system, and due to the bulk booking, servers went down and people felt that they had not been able to book their cylinders, which is why they went to the gas agencies, which compounded the problem,” she adds.

Ishfaq Ahmad, who works at a geyser repair shop in Srinagar, says that due to the shortages, his family has turned to the use of firewood to cook.  The disruptions are severe in the tourism sector, which has already been reeling from losses due to the decline in hotel occupancy in the wake of increased militancy incidents over the last one year in Kashmir.

Restaurant and hotel owners fear that they may be forced to shut down completely when business resumes to normal levels after the end of Ramadan. According to hoteliers, on March 13, gas dealers stopped supplies in the wake of the nationwide rationing that prioritised domestic consumers. As of now, a cap of 20 per cent of the average monthly consumption remains in place for non-domestic LPG supplies to maintain the stocks at hospitals and educational establishments.

Adil Khan, a hotelier in Srinagar, says that their services were hit after the supply of commercial gas was stopped when the depot owners received instructions from the government that they should give priority to domestic consumers. He owns a 23-room hotel in the Dalgate area of Srinagar.

“The situation was really bad after an order was issued that the shortage of domestic consumers had to be tackled first, instead of those running commercial establishments,” he says. “There was widespread panic in Kashmir after the hotels and restaurants in some parts remained closed and we were not getting any gas.”

Mehboob Mir, Secretary General of the Kashmir Hotels and Restaurant Association (KHARA), says that the impact on hotel operations could be drastic after the end of Ramadan, and with the increase in the number of tourists visiting  Kashmir.

“If the situation continues to be grim and the supply disruptions persist, then we would have a tough time. The tourism season begins from mid-March and lasts for three months, and consumption of gas would only increase in the coming days,” he notes.

The current situation has been exacerbated due to the power cuts in several parts of Kashmir, as the sale of electric cooking appliances has shot up here. According to home appliance retail owners, the sale of induction cook tops, electric kettles and other electric cooking appliances has gone up considerably in Kashmir after the disruptions in the LPG supply.

This article appeared in Outlook's April 1st, 2026 issue titled 'ParaDime Shift' which looks at how the US-Israel attack on Iran has come home to India with the LPG crisis and is disrupting the nation's energy ecosystem, exposing policy gaps and testing the limits of diplomacy.