Following the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) notice to all bakeries to convert their ovens from wood to cleaner fuels by July 7, 2025, the Irani Bakers Association (IBA) has appealed to the state government to exempt the wood- fired ovens of Irani bakeries as they are "part of Bombay’s identity,” reported mid-day (MD) on February 20, 2025. Former Bharata Janta Party corporator Makarand Narvekar has written to Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis asking for heritage status for these bakeries, many of which are over 60 years old.
Wood-fired Irani bakeries like Yazdani Restaurant
and Bakery are part of Bombay’s identity
"We are using hardwood, not plywood or scrap wood. We have a chimney that is more than 30 ft tall. These are traditional firewood bakeries that are part of Bombay’s identity,” Perzon Zend, partner in Yazdani Restaurant and Bakery in the Fort area told MD (see "We are not closing down,” Events and Personalities,” Parsiana, February 7-20, 2025). He too felt that Irani bakeries should be granted heritage status. Zend maintains that wood-fired ovens impart a distinctive taste to "pav,” the everyman’s bread.
The versatile ladi pav, which traces its roots to Portuguese influence in the 16th century, is a staple of Bombay’s culinary landscape, reported The Indian Express (IE) on February 13. It is often served with dishes like egg bhurji, kheema, missal, pav bhaji and of course, the ubiquitous vada pav. With the new regulations being implemented the pav may lose its affordability.
But alarming findings in a report by the Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG) published last year show that many of Bombay’s smaller bakeries, which rely on wood and scrap wood as fuel, generate enough particulate matter each year to equal an individual smoking five billion cigarettes during the same period. This pushed the BMC to serve notices on them last year, noted IE. Such bakeries were never a problem earlier, explained Dr Kurush Dalal, archeologist and culinary anthropologist. "There simply weren’t skyscrapers around them. Now, with tall buildings everywhere… how tall can a chimney realistically be?” He also warned that speeding up the transition "will lead to a bread shortage.” The IBA has maintained that ban on the use of wood would disrupt the supply of pav which is required for the Bombay staple vada pav.
Regarding the July 7 deadline for changing fuels, the IBA has demanded additional time. "There are around 500-600 bakeries in Bombay which use wood-fired ovens. It will take at least three years to convert all the ovens to LPG or CNG-fired ones,” Khodadad Irani, IBA president told MD. He has written to Narvekar that converting to other fuels will necessitate "a huge investment of at least Rs 15 to 20 lakhs. The government should give subsidies and encourage banks to provide long-term loans.” S. V.