KATHMANDU, Nov 2: No sooner than the news of blockade on Nepal by India made headlines in late September, the demand for electric heaters and induction cookers surged in market like never before. Well-off house owners and tenants both made a rush for the electric items. However, with the owners showing highhandedness and arguing over the issue of electricity consumption, many tenants in the Kathmandu Valley have been forced either to shift their apartment or quietly tolerate the humiliation. Facilities for the renters are the last thing house owners consider, they allege.
"I overpaid for this new heater and rice cooker as my LPG was almost over when India imposed blockade on us, but I'm unable to make proper use of it," said Kiran Poudel, a Master's level student of management at the Tribhuvan University. "My landlady keeps on knocking at my door several times a day just to check out whether I'm using heaters. It is very disturbing," lamented Poudel.
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Deepa Maharjan of Kirtipur, who has rented two rooms to Poudel for over a year, remains untouched by the complaint. She is adamant that she cannot allow all the tenants in her house to use electricity 'haphazardly'.
"Is he my only tenant? There are others too in other rooms. If I keep quiet, everyone will use heaters. Why don't they go back to their village during such crisis?" said Maharjan, adding that she has been renting out rooms since decades and she knows quite well 'how to deal with them'.
Landlords in Kathmandu are generally just like Maharjan, remarks Poudel's next door neighbor Saroj Pudasaini, who has a long experience of living in rent in the capital. "You have to give them rent on time but cannot ask for any facility. That's what they want. Even during such crisis, they do not fail to show such mean attitude," he said.
The government has started distributing LPG gas from Sunday morning, but the duo is little excited over it as 'smooth supply of the product would certainly take time.'
"Cooking problem is killing us every single day. Even the restaurants and our regular eateries are all closed. Commoners like us will have to wait at least for weeks if not months for normal supply of cooking gas," said Pudasaini, adding that the duo, originally from Morang district, is fed up of house owner's arrogance and is planning to shift away.
Ganga Devi Kharel, a local of Naya Naikap, says that house owners in Kathmandu are bossy for a reason. "It's because our rooms or apartments are never vacant. If one goes, other comes. We would have been forced to please renters if our rooms had less demand," she explained.
Kharel, who runs shop of construction and painting products in Kalanki chowk, has two families as her renters. While Kharel has been using firewood for cooking purpose since few weeks, she is in dilemma whether or not to allow her tenants to do so.
"Now the government has started distributing gas. Let's see, if the crisis persists, I shall cooperate," she said on Saturday.
According to her, it is not easy to deal with tenants either. "Disputes might arise at the time of paying electricity bills, so some owners hesitate to let their renters overuse electricity. Not every person is honest," she said.
While substantial number of populace in Kathmandu is living in rented flats or single or more rooms, there is no clear provision in practice to safeguard their dignity and rights. Owners in the capital have been offering rooms at a higher price after the devastating earthquake of April 25 and its aftershocks, according to Poudel.
"Although we pay whatever the landlords demand, they don't care about our comfort. What type of house owners you get depends just on your luck" he said.
