Urja Khabar
KATHMANDU; Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has once again pledged to ease the supply of cooking gas within a week as the shortage of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) continues to deepen.
Speaking at a meeting of the parliamentary Industry, Commerce, Labour and Consumer Welfare Protection Committee on Wednesday, NOC Managing Director Nagendra Sah said LPG supplies would improve with increased imports in recent days. According to Sah, a total of 134 LPG bullets were imported on Tuesday alone.
For the past several weeks, the state-owned oil monopoly has repeatedly assured consumers that LPG supplies would be regulated, citing increased imports over the past month. However, the shortage has continued to worsen, affecting households across the country.
Kopila Mainali, a resident of Bhatbhateni, said there is a mismatch in NOC’s words and actual supply situation. “If the import is being made in excessive quantity, why is the NOC not regulating the supply through proper market monitoring?” asked Mainali, who had been on a waiting list at a gas depot for the past three weeks but had yet to receive a single LPG cylinder despite regularly following up.
In an apparent attempt to deflect public criticism, the NOC has been selling cylinders of only a handful of selected brands from its outlet in Teku, Kathmandu. Consumer rights activists, however, say the move has further aggravated the situation by contributing to the growth of the black market for cooking gas.
Several recent incidents of black-market trading have also highlighted growing malpractices in the sector. Nepal Police and market-monitoring teams deployed by the Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection have taken action against a number of traders involved in such activities over the past two weeks.
At Wednesday’s meeting, the parliamentary committee also directed the government and relevant authorities to take stern action against those involved in the illegal sale of LPG. “If necessary, the authorities should not hesitate to scrap the licenses of traders involved in the black market,” the committee said in its directive.
Meanwhile, lawmakers in the National Assembly also raised concerns over the acute shortage of cooking gas at the household level. Nepali Congress lawmaker Yubaraj Sharma demanded the government to immediately wipe out LPG shortage by making distribution system well managed and transparent.
