Free meal kitchens too stalled in city

Lucknow: The ongoing shortage of LPG cylinders in parts of Lucknow has begun to affect community kitchens that provide free meals to hundreds of people every day, forcing some organisers to suspend operations temporarily.These kitchens, run by social organisations, volunteers and charitable groups, serve as an important support system for migrant labourers, homeless people, rickshaw pullers and low-income families who rely on them for at least one nutritious meal a day. Many such kitchens typically serve between 250 and 450 people in a single sitting. Alind Agarwal, who runs the Vishalakshi Foundation, said their kitchen outside Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital was forced to halt meal distribution due to the LPG shortage. "We used to serve food to around 450 people every evening outside the hospital. But because of the gas crisis, we temporarily suspended the meal service until the situation improves," he said. Meanwhile, organisers of Adam's Kitchen, another community food initiative in the city that has been running for the past five years, said they are currently managing operations with limited LPG supplies but fear disruptions in the coming days. Anas Ahmad Abdullah, who runs the kitchen, said they serve food to around 250 people every evening. The shortage has already forced another NGO operating a community kitchen in Indira Nagar to shut down its food distribution temporarily. A contractual employee in a private firm, Ramesh Kumar, who regularly has food at the kitchen near Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, said the closure has made things difficult. "I used to eat there almost every evening after work. It helped me save money. Since it stopped, I have had no proper meal," he said. However, despite the LPG shortage, the Tara Shakti Centre, run under initiative of Sarojini Nagar MLA Rajeshwar Singh, has managed to keep its community kitchens operational by switching to firewood for cooking.