Supply of LP Gas worsens in valley

The dealers of Liquefied petroleum gas staged a sit-in at the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) on Sunday demanding easy supply of the petroleum product.

The dealers staged the protest as the Gas Industry Association has halted import from India.

Members of the LP Gas Distributors’ Association, Nepal (LPGDAN) and Nepal LP Gas Dealers Association (NLPGDA) jointly organised a sit-in in front of the NOC central office with the placards reading ‘Ensure smooth supply of LPG’ and ‘End drama between NOC and bottling companies’ written on them.

The association had stopped importing cooking gas from India since last week stating that they have not been able to supply gas as demanded by the consumers.

The dealers have warned that they would stage another sit in at the Oil Corporation with empty cylinders if there demands were not met.

The crisis over the supply of cooking gas in the Kathmandu valley worsened after the bottling companies went on strike from last Sunday saying that they would not import LPG until NOC raised the import quota from the current 7,523 metric tonnes (MT) a month to a minimum of 10,000 plus metric tonnes.

“The current quota was fixed over three years ago considering the demand at that time. But it has already gone up to 10,000 MT a month. How can we meet the market demand unless the quota is raised,” asked Sabarmal Agrawal, president of Nepal LPG Industry Association.

The normal daily supply of bottled LPG in the valley stands at 10,000 cylinders. Consumers in the valley have been reeling under the shortage of gas for over three months, particularly after the terai unrest began.

While the NOC attributes the crisis to the terai unrest, as that hindered transportation of the fuel, gas companies charge that NOC also reduced the volume of import in order to check its losses. nepalnews.com pb Apr 02 07