Koraput: Two tribal villages of the district will get the smokeless tag as almost all households there have switched from conventional fuel to the LPG under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.

Khudubu village under Nandaput block with 403 households and Jhadiguda in Koraput block with 323 households were converted into smokeless villages under the Gram Swaraj Abhijan of the Union petroleum ministry.

"On a pilot basis, the two villages were identified to make them smokeless. At present, around 90 per cent of households of the two villages have switched from conventional fuel to the LPG," said Prasanna Kumar Pradhan, nodal officer of the yojana for Koraput.

"We are hopeful that in the next couple of weeks, the remaining households will also start using the LPG as they have already applied for the same under the yojana. In a special function on May 5, the villages will be accorded the smokeless tag," he said.

Officials said they had held village meetings and conducted demonstrations about the usage of LPG stove and created an awareness among the villagers as to how the LPG connection would improve their lives. "Initially, the villagers didn't co-operate with the officials. However, when they had been made aware about the health hazards resulting from indoor air pollution created by traditional fuel, they agreed to opt for the LPG," Pradhan said.

An official said the villagers were also educated about the safe usage of LPG with demonstrations carried out as part of the programme. More so, to popularise the use of LPG, the ministry has planned to observe Ujjwala Divas on a mass scale on Friday in the tribal-dominated district.

"The occasion of Ujjwala Divas will be observed in at least 18 LPG panchayats involving 500 women in each of them in 14 blocks of the district. The women will be made aware about the benefits of using the LPG in the programme," said Pradhan.

"Women, who have experienced the benefits of cooking using the LPG, will speak on the occasion to boost the confidence of others about adopting this clean, green cooking fuel without any reservations or misconceptions," he said.

The LPG connection in the district, which had been 54,000 in 2014, reached to 1.60 lakh till March 2018.