"We have nearly forgotten the taste of well-cooked meal. We are eating anything available," said BK, who lives in a rented room along with her children. "If it was just the matter of adults, things would have been different. I have children and I need to send them to school on time, that's the greatest challenge when there is no cooking gas," she added.
After she failed to buy cooking gas, she somehow managed to get some bundles of firewood. But her landlady warned her not to use that. "We are not allowed to use firewood inside the house from the landlady. She has strongly warned me against use of firewood in her house."
BK, mother of three, said that she cannot return to her village as her kids study at a local English medium school in the town. "I cannot put their education at stake. This blockade has hard hit people like us," she said.
Puspa KC, of Ghorahi, Dang has no different problem. In hope of getting LPG, she stayed in queue for hours last week. Even earlier week, she was in beeline for a filled LPG cylinder. But, when her turn was just about to come, the dealer said the cylinders have been over. "What could I do when I am told there's no cylinder left? I just waited and waited for hours but that didn't pay off," she lamented. Just like BK, she stated that she is living in town just for the sake of her children's education. "Or else, we could return home and live much easier life."
KC's landlord has also warned her for not using firewood and threatened she might have evacuate the room, if she uses wood. "When will be this suffering end?" she wondered.
While the black marketing of fuel is rife throughout the country, mothers like BK and KC, who cannot afford to pay higher price for the fuel, have no choice than to suffer. Getting the kids ready, serving them meal on time, preparing their tiffin and so on has become an ordeal for them these days. Huge numbers of LPG cylinders are being supplied from Dang to Kathmandu. However, the local administration has done nothing about it, locals accuse "The administration is deaf and blind. It cannot see people's suffering. It cannot sense their pain," remarked Khem Prasad Bhattarai, a local in Ghorahi, Dang. "The scarcity of gas is artificial. It's just for the poor," he
added.
Meanwhile, a gas dealer in Ghorahi, Krishna Prasad Ghimire stated that 35 percent of the gas distributed in Ghorahi is black marketed to Kathmandu. "If the quantity of gas meant for Dang is well distributed here, there wouldn't be scarcity. But around 35 percent is supplied to Kathmandu through black marketing channels," he said.
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LPG shortage gives moms tough time
