Pilot Survey of Fuel Consumption in Rural Areas-V

Pilot survey of fuel consumption in rural areas was conducted by the Forest Economics Branch, FRI in 1974 and again in 1984 in the regions: 1. Region I - Villages surrounded by forests 2. Region II - Villages near the forests 3. Region III - Villages away from the forests. The present study pertains the villages in the hilly areas. In villages of region I and II firewood is the only fuel used in the domestic sector while the position is different in the region III where agricultural waste is also used as fuel. Not even a single family was found using dung cake as fuel. Per capita fuel consumption is the highest in the region I and lowest in the region III according to difficulty in procuring wood. Per capita noncommercial fuel consumption varies with respect to profession, family size and land area available with the family. Shortage of alternative sources is evident.