Pariyar placed the empty cylinder in line again on Wednesday evening. But this time, too, she is still not sure that she would get cooking gas.
Like Ujyaali, thousands of consumers in Pokhara, who have been hit hard by the shortage of cooking gas, have again started to keep their empty cylinders in line since Wednesday evening.
Although the line has been getting longer, no body knows whether they will get the cooking gas.
The District Administration Office (DAO), Kaski has asked consumers not to stay in queue as there was no guarantee of the availability of gas in the districts. But consumers are not ready to heed the DAO's call.
"I will not return home unless I get the gas," said Pariyar. Consumers, who have been hit hard by the cooking gas shortage, have been spending their nights under the open sky. Many women, who were unable to sleep in the night due to cold, were seen dozing off near empty cylinders on Thursday morning.
"I have not been able to cook food at home. So I have placed my cylinder in line," Januka Panta, another housewife, complained, adding that her children could die of hunger if the ongoing crisis prolonged. She said that she decided to put her cylinder in queue following the rumor about the distribution of cooking gas cylinders. Some people even hired taxis to reach the gas depots with their empty cylinders because of the rumor.
Chief District Officer (CDO) of Kaski, Krishna Regmi informed that he wasn't sure when the cooking gas would be available in the district.
"Consumers believe more in rumors than the administration's call," said CDO Regmi.
He informed that two gas bullets of Shakti and Grihalaxmi companies have entered Kaski. About 5,000 half-filled cylinders will be readied from the two gas bullets, but the demand for cooking gas is much higher. Pokhara needs over 200,000 cooking gas cylinders in a month.
Related story
Shortage of cooking gas continues despite NOC adopting measures...
