Bakers in Mumbai oppose BMC’s fuel change mandate

Irani has claimed that the wood-burning process in ovens lasts for only 30 minutes to two hours, depending on the bakery’s shifts, resulting in minimal smoke pollution. After this, the coal retains heat through low combustion. The ovens, moreover, are equipped with chimneys that meet the BMC’s height regulations

MUMBAI: Close on the heels of charcoal merchants and restaurants opposing the BMC ban on charcoal tandoors, city bakers too have expressed concern about the BMC notice and court order to change their fuel from the traditional wood fire/ diesel to gas or electricity. The India Bakers’ Association (IBA) has pointed out in writing to MLA Rahul Narwekar that many of its bakeries have operated for over five decades, some for a century, and traditional pav, a staple food of Mumbaikars, has always been baked in wood-fired ovens or bhattis.

Bakers in Mumbai oppose BMC’s fuel change mandate

“These bhattis have a dome structure made with bricks and mortar and are suited for wood firing as the only source of heat,” states IBA president Khodad Irani in the letter. “Each oven has a dimension of 12x12 feet and an area of around 150 sq ft. The ovens are designed to accept fire wood as the main source of heating. Fire wood burns at a slow rate, turning into coal which continues to give heat throughout the day.”

Irani has claimed that the wood-burning process in ovens lasts for only 30 minutes to two hours, depending on the bakery’s shifts, resulting in minimal smoke pollution. After this, the coal retains heat through low combustion. The ovens, moreover, are equipped with chimneys that meet the BMC’s height regulations, the letter points out.

Calling the ban on bhattis “unviable and issued at short notice”, the IBA letter states that using electricity to bake pav, bread, buns and brun is economically unfeasible for the current 150-sq-ft, dome-shaped ovens. It also maintains that switching to LPG or PNG “presents significant risks”. “Each bakery would require at least 10 LPG cylinders, with some stocking up to 25 cylinders, creating a serious fire and explosion hazard,” states the letter. “Many bakeries are in densely populated residential buildings, and any mishap could cause catastrophic damage. Additionally, the high temperatures inside the bakery (40-45°C) further increase the danger.”

Bakeries will need to close for at least a month to dismantle the old ovens, repair the infrastructure and set up a new gas-powered fabricated oven. “The cost of installing each oven ranges from ₹15 to 20 lakh, which is out of reach for many bakers,” states Irani in his letter. “To support this transition, the state government should offer a subsidy of 50% to 60% and encourage banks to provide long-term loans at reduced interest rates, similar to the financial support given to other industries like solar power.”

Referring to the time limit to make the transition as directed by the court, IBA states that the bakery infrastructure/facility/oven-manufacturing are not capable of fulfilling the requirement of 500 to 600 ovens for bakers for a minimum of three years. Also, the power supply agencies, namely BEST, Adani and MSEDC will have to increase their capacity and cables supplying power to these bakeries.

The IBA letter argues that the only viable replacement is Piped Natural Gas (PNG) from Mahanagar Gas Ltd (MGL). However, MGL lacks the infrastructure to reach all areas of Greater Mumbai, and many bakers have faced delays in switching from diesel to PNG due to MGL’s inability to obtain the necessary permissions for pipeline installation. As a result, some members are still waiting for a response from the gas company.

The long-term solution suggested by IBA is to replace the wood-fired oven/bhatti with fabricated ovens such as rack or deck ovens which use gas as fuel and have powered air circulation.

Stressing on the importance of pav as the only product that goes with vada, the letter says that vada pav is a basic necessity of every Mumbaikar, and any disturbance in supply will create an “unwanted scenario”. IBA has requested Narwekar to help bakers survive the present scenario and make arrangements with various authorities so that bakers can move from wood-fired to gas-fired ovens successfully. “Any forceful action taken at this stage will create unnecessary panic in the bread market,” the letter states.