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Shortage of petroleum fuels and electricity continues in Nepal
By KTM Metro Reporter in Kathmandu
Shortage of propane (cooking gas), petrol, diesel and kerosene has continued in Nepal. Unavailability of the kerosene has hit hard the poor people. Some of them could not cook their meal for several days due to the unavailability of kerosene. Most of the public-transport vehicles run on diesel were off the road in Kathmandu due to the shortage of diesel making inconvenient to the commuters. Similarly only half of the taxis are on the road due to the lack of petrol. Private vehicles are rarely seen on the road. It has been already a year since the shortage of petroleum products has started in Nepal. The government has been putting forward one excuse or another since then. However, if you are ready to pay 25% more for petrol you can fill up the tank with it. So, some analysts believe that the government is deliberately creating the shortage of petroleum products.
Hospitals and schools have already felt the shortage of diesel and petrol. Hospital could not run the generators to meet the power gap during the eight-hour-power cut following the load shedding the Nepal Electricity Authority has put into effect since last month. The Nepal Electricity Authority has been cutting down the supply of power for eight hours a day: four hours in the morning and four hours in the evening. Schools could not run their buses to pick up and drop off the children due to the shortage of diesel. Combined shortage of power and petroleum products forced factories and other businesses to cut down their working hours and then reduce the production by 40% and more.
The government has not been serious to mitigate the shortage of power and petroleum products.
