Some tried to switch to kerosene oil stoves, but the government had no dollars to import it along with gasoline and diesel, which are also in short supply.
And those who bought electric cookers were shocked when the government imposed long power cuts because it ran out of dollars to import fuel for the generators.
Niluka Hapuarachchi, 41, was miraculously unharmed when her gas stove exploded shortly after cooking Sunday lunch in August.
“Luckily no one was there at the time. There were pieces of glass all over the floor. The glass top stove had exploded. I will never use gas for cooking. This is not sure said, despite the steps taken to address the propane issue.
Roadside restaurant owner MG Karunawathi, 67, also switched to wood and said it was a choice between shutting down his business or enduring the smoke and soot.
“We suffer (from smoke inhalation) when we cook with firewood, but we have no choice,” Karunawathi told AFP. “It is also difficult to find firewood and it also becomes very expensive.”
ECONOMIC CRISIS
Sri Lanka was once a middle-income country, with a gross domestic product per capita comparable to that of the Philippines and a standard of living the envy of neighboring India.
But with economic mismanagement and the crucial tourism industry hammered by COVID-19, the nation has run out of dollars needed to pay for most imports.
And the pain is likely to continue for some time, with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in Parliament on Tuesday July 5 declaring: “We will also face difficulties in 2023.
“It’s the truth. It’s the reality.”