Mahottari. The rural areas of Mahottari have started collecting ‘Guintha’ for cooking fuel. Even though the use of gas stoves for cooking is increasing in the markets and urban areas of the district, housewives who still rely on ‘Guintha’ in rural areas are starting to collect it for the rainy season.
The rainy season is still a few months away, but the management of Guintha is already underway here. Collecting cow dung by searching the roadside and pastures throughout the winter is a regular routine for rural women here.
Those who keep cattle make ‘Guintha’ from their own cow dung and those who do not keep cattle collect dung from pastures to use as firewood for cooking. The ‘Guintha’ made in winter is a tradition here to keep the rains safe after the onset of Vesakh. This work is currently being done here.
In winter, ‘Guintha’ of various sizes is made by spreading dung on stones. ‘Chipri’ and ‘Gorha’ are made from this. Dung made by spreading stones on the walls of the house and drying it is called ‘Chipri’. Similarly, ‘Gorha’, which is made by spreading dung on stones and placing small sticks or straw inside it and shaking it to dry, is called ‘Guintha’.
There are 15 local levels in the district, including 10 municipalities and five rural municipalities. ‘Guintha’ is also used in the inner settlements of the urban area. During the rainy season, when the fields get wet and cannot be burned, housewives have been making ‘guintha’ for that time.
‘We have to cook food, where can we find firewood during the rainy season? That’s why we have to save it now,’ says Panwati Danuwar of Ramnagar, Bhangaha Municipality-4. ‘If we don’t save it now, we will be miserable when it rains.’
Since it doesn’t cost money to make ‘guintha’ and the fire doesn’t go out once lit, it is the choice of housewives for cooking. In poorer settlements, since they cannot afford gas stoves and wood, ‘guintha’ is almost a necessity.
Therefore, housewives in these settlements collect cow dung from Kartik to Chait, make ‘chipri’ and ‘gorha’ from it and arrange to dry it properly. ‘chipri’ is spread all over the walls of the house. After it dries, it is piled up in one place.
‘gorha’ is spread on a stone and dried in a sunny place. After the onset of Baisakh, the dried ‘chipri’ and ‘gorha’ are stored at one end of the house or in a small hut. They are used from Asar to Asoj. ‘We can get rice and flour from the rice fields, but we have a lot of problems with firewood,’ says Bhutti Sada Musahar of Bhoiltimkia, Aurahi Municipality-7, ‘That’s why we have to keep a hut in the hut from now on.’
‘Guintha’ is not only convenient during the monsoon, but also has become a favorite of small farmers and some middle-class families in rural settlements because the food cooked in it is delicious. Rampari Tharu of Gaushala-6, Jamuniya, says that the hut provides a lot of relief to the economically disadvantaged who cannot afford other means of fuel.
Suresh Paswan, Head of the Health Branch and Senior Health Inspector of the Bardibas Municipal Executive Office He says that food cooked in a ‘Guintha’ is preferred by many because it has an original taste and is also healthy.
However, he says that special caution is needed as its smoke is very harmful to the health of the housewife cooking.
‘Especially among rural women, respiratory problems are often caused by kitchen smoke. For those who cannot afford alternative fuels due to their financial situation, the use of ‘Guintha’ is also a must. Therefore, it is necessary to cook in places where there is a lot of smoke, and to take other health precautions,’ suggests Senior Health Inspector Paswan.
In the districts of Madhesh, including Mahottari, most of the cow dung is consumed as fuel for cooking. This has increased the dependence on chemical fertilizers for farming, according to Deep Bahadur Phuyal, an 80-year-old farmer from Bhangaha-4, Ramnagar. ‘The cow dung used for making compost fertilizer is used as firewood. Due to the lack of compost fertilizer, the fields are not fertile, so the production is decreasing. The dependence on chemical fertilizers is increasing,’ he said.
Mature farmers, including Phuyal, are of the opinion that an alternative to cow dung for fuel should be found. ‘Production on the land is decreasing due to the lack of compost fertilizer. “The government needs to encourage farmers to install gas stoves and provide access to forest produce (firewood) to the poor,” said 85-year-old Chhabilal Dahal, a neighbor of Phuyal.
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