Cooking gas crisis fast spiralling out of control
With an early end to the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) crisis in the Capital nowhere in sight, frustrated Kathmanduites have started looking for tough alternatives to make their living. While some have made plans to return to their hometowns, some have lost all sense of fear and started to seize vehicles carrying LPG cylinders by going against the laws.
LPG shortage across the country that has worsened in the past one-and-a-half months has hit consumers hard. People’s frustration and anger were evident from three different incidents that took place in the Capital in the past one week. On Tuesday, locals of Ghattekulo area seized a vehicle carrying LPG belonging to Shree Krishna Gas Udyog and distributed the cylinders among themselves. Last Wednesday, locals of Sallaghari took control of three vehicles ferrying LPG cylinders. Locals at Dallu also made a similar attempt, but was foiled by the police.
“If the government does not address the problem at the earliest, the situation may go out of hand,” said BP Poudel, 26, a student of politics in Ghattekulo.
As the crisis worsens, common people are struggling to light fire in their kitchens, while things are a bit different for those who can pay a little extra for the cylinders. Some people with low daily income have even planned to return to their native lands. “This thing has gone to the extreme. The government is a mere spectator to the public sufferings,” said Durga Acharya, a vegetable seller at Baneshwor.
While the crisis is at its peak, traders have literally started to believe in the adage and are making hay while the sun shines. “A dealer at Gwarko is openly demanding Rs 4,000 for a cylinder—a sum that I can’t even think of,” Acharya said. “I feel this is an artificial crisis.”
Gaurav Timilsina, a 25-year-old at Koteshwor, said he plans to return to his hometown if his efforts to buy a cylinder within a week fails. Jagannath Timilsina, an MSc Physics student at Patan Campus, has already booked a bus ticket to head for his hometown of Tanahun.
Problems for Jhabindra Pandey at Kirtipur, who is a father of a new-born child, are worse. A lecturer at the GS College in Kalimati, Pandey’s LPG cylinder is almost empty. “I am running from pillar to post for a gas cylinder,” he said, adding that he has not been able to take proper care of his child for the past one week.
Despite all this, Nepal Oil Corporation has been saying is that LPG import from the Indian Oil Corporation has improved since February 2 and that supply will be normal by February 15.
Posted on: 2012-02-08 07:49
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