Hilly area residents to get stoves in winter

Before the onset of winter, the government has approved a project to distribute 300 environment-friendly stoves among families in four mountainous tehsils of Rawalpindi district. The tehsils are Kalar Syedan, Kahuta, Kotli Satyan, and Murree.

A total of 500 stoves will be distributed next month. Last year, 350 stoves were distributed among families in these tehsils. The officials will distribute stoves to 100 families in small mountainous tehsils and 150 families in large mountainous tehsils. These stoves will be distributed free to all the families in phases who use wood as fuel.

The distribution ceremony will take place in the second week of October in Kahuta and Minister of State for Climate Change, Zartaj Gul, will be the chief guest.

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The stoves will be distributed in collaboration with the forest department extension wing and the ministry of climate change.

A single stove costs Rs3,000, while the smoke emitted from these stoves is an eco-friendly white. These stoves provide much more heat in the same quantity of wood utilised compared to other stoves.

The officials of the extension wing told The Express Tribune that the heat produced from the modern stoves in 20 kilogrammes of wood is double that of a normal stove. They added that these stoves can also be used as heaters at night as they burn the wood for long. Using eco-friendly stoves will save 50 percent fuel besides ensuring that it will not pollute the environment, they said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 14^th, 2021.