Financial Times (UK) had commissioned me in June 2012 to produce a series of reportage photographs on an initiative in Hyderabad’s  Nandanavanam Colony. Most of the women here happen to cook on traditional wood-fired stoves, which causes various issues related to the respiratory organs and burning of eyes.  APMAS, a city-based NGO, had launched a pilot project in the slum where women were encouraged to form LPG Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and avail new connections. The initiative was a finalist for FT’s Urban Ingenuity Awards in Energy category.

A street in the urban slum at Nandanavanam Colony, Hyderabad, India.

Rangamma Namala and Timmakka Sandagiri, along with other members at a meeting of the LPG Self-Help Group at Nandanavanam Colony, Hyderabad, India.

A family stocks up on firewood to be used during the oncoming monsoon season at their home in Nandanavanam Colony, Hyderabad, India.

Timmakka Sandagiri (60), prepares evening meal on a solid wood-fueled stove at her home in Nandavanam Colony, Hyderabad, India.

Varalakshmi Pothuraju (30),  closes her eyes in pain as smoke rises from the solid wood-fueled stove as she cooks food at her home in Nandavanam Colony, Hyderabad, India.

Ramalakshmi Kore (15), prepares evening meals on the newly-acquired LPG stove at her home in Nandanavanam Colony, Hyderabad, India.

Hanumantamma Uppara (20), makes rotis (flat bread) on a solid wood-fueled stove at her home in Nandavanam Colony, Hyderabad, India.

Lakshmibai Mukkera (50), makes tea on the newly-acquired LPG stove at her home in Nandavanam Colony, Hyderabad, India.

Read the report by James Crabtree here.