Shimla, March 20 -- Amid a shortage of commercial LPG in Himachal Pradesh, meals for MLAs, ministers, officials, and staff during the ongoing Budget Session are being prepared using wood-fired ovens by the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC).

Food for the Assembly is being supplied from Hotel Holiday Home in Shimla. On Friday, the sixth day of the session, HPTDC staff prepared meals for around 500-600 people using large utensils placed over traditional wood-fired furnaces. The food is then packed and transported in hot cases to the Assembly complex.

Harvinder Singh, a chef with HPTDC, said the situation is unusual. "I have not seen such an LPG shortage in my career. We are not used to cooking on wood-fired ovens, bu...