Initially, CDO of the district, Loknath Poudel denied having any idea about the 'secret transaction' between the NOC head and the petrol pump. After he came to know about it, he questioned the NOC officials. He was answered that the particular petrol pump is located at 'remote' area than those in the streets of Ghorahi and so to cover for the transportation charge, the petrol pump was provided extra oil. "When I asked them why the pump was given bigger quantity of petrol, they told me that was to cover the charges of the extra distance of 23 kilometer," Poudel told Republica. "As they said transportation charge for the pump goes high, I excused them for once," he added.
Shrestha says that Shreeram Diesel continued pilling pressure on them for oil by using its sources. "We had strict orders from the CDO and we denied fulfilling Shreeram Diesel's demand," he informed adding that the petrol pump's owner, Ram Bahadur Oli then started using highly placed sources at the ministry level to acquire fuel. "He took the matter to the Home Ministry and the Minister for Supply, and seven days ago, the regional office of NOC again called us directing to provide fuel to Oli's pump," he said. As the issue had already created controversy, Shrestha says that he reported the incident to CDO Poudel. "CDO ordered for not fulfilling the directive and instead directed to distribute the oil allocated for Oli's petrol pump by the regional office to other petrol pumps in Ghorahi and Tulsipur."
Shrestha had received orders to provide 6000 liter of petrol to Oli's pump but Oli is said to have insisted for 9000 liters at the least. Responding to the case, CDO Poudel claims that Oli's petrol pump was denied the supply considering that it was not located in heavy traffic area. "It is not fair to provide more oil to the petrol pump in remote area and giving less to those located in busy areas," Poudel said further questioning, "how can we provide more petrol to a pump situated in a remote area by depriving busy pumps?" Stating that he was hoodwinked earlier, CDO Poudel said that his office has been extra careful about the distribution of fuel in the district since the incident.
Meanwhile, Oli protested CDO's decision of denying fuel supply to his pump. "Everyone is getting it. I don't know why my petrol pump is being treated like this. I have heard that they have been directed not to provide oil to my pump," he said. Oli accepted that he was forced into using his contacts at the Home Ministry and at the the Ministry of Finance and Supply for securing fuel supply to his pump. "I had to resort to using sources at the Home Ministry and at the Ministry of Supply and Commerce to get fuel for my petrol pump. What could I do when they were not giving it easily?" he questioned lamenting that his efforts could not ensure fuel supply to his pump.
Oli further informed that besides the ministries, he had even talked to some lawmakers to avail petrol to his pump. "I complained of how my pump was being deprived of fuel supply to lawmakers. But it did not work either." While stating that his petrol pump had received greater quantity of petrol during earlier distributions because of its remoteness, he complained that his pump has been deprived of supply since then. "They have provided fuel in Dang four times already, but I have not received even a single time during this interval," he said questioning how he was supposed to sustain his business.
Sources claim that NOC is not fair in distributing oil and such discrimination has been done in several other petrol pumps of Dang district. Many state that more oil is being distributed in Deukhuri and less in Tulsipur. CDO Poudel said that the discrimination is apparent. "It is clear that NOC itself is promoting black marketing of fuel," he said.
Damodar Ghimire, president of Dang based Petroleum Dealers Association also claimed that NOC has not been fair in fuel distribution. "It has not treated every petrol pumps equally. It is not good to favor some and neglect others," he said.
However, NOC's regional head Shreechan Shrestha denied discriminating among petrol pumps. "It is not my duty but that of the CDO to make sure fair distribution of oil in his district. We have not done any kind of discrimination in distributing petroleum products," he said adding that he never made a phone directing for providing extra oil to Oli's petrol pump.
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