A senior NOC official informed Republica that the corporation has curtailed a supply for the time being given the problem it faced in importing fuel due to elections in India and also due to heavy traffic congestion along the Birgunj customs.
As a result of the new distribution system, the corporation is presently distributing petrol and diesel to a mere 60 dealers in the Valley. That has caused some 50 dealers to remain dry on every alternate day. Consequently, consumers have to rush around numerous dealers before they actual manage to find a few liters of the fuel.
“The demand of petrol has soared over 400 kiloliters a day because of the shortage in the recent past. On the other hand, the corporation has been very slow to replenish its stock,” said Mukunda Dhungel, NOC spokesperson, elaborating on the cause of present sparse availability of fuel in the market.
To deal with the gap in demand and supply (replenishment), he said the corporation was pumping out the quantity equal to the average daily volume the dealers received from NOC in February and March.
“We are distributing 220 kiloliters of petrol and 400 kiloliters of diesel in the Valley at present,” said Dhungel. The quantity apparently is equal to the normal daily demand of fuel in the Valley in any regular day. However, because of the past shortage, the quantity is simply failing to quench consumers’ fuel thirst.
Linendra Bahadur Pradhan of Three Brothers Oil Store in New Baneshwor said he was presently receiving 8 KL of petrol a day, whereas his order at NOC stands at 12 KL, because of the quota system.
NOC officials stated that even though the corporation had adequate stock at Thankot and Amlekhgunj depots a week ago, it has failed to replenish them. “We requested the local administration, Ministry of Home and Ministry of Supplies to make arrangements for uninterrupted import of fuel. But they have failed to address the problem despite affirmative commitments,” said another NOC official.
He elaborated that because of the traffic congestion, the corporation was presently receiving only 75 percent of the regular normal quantity from Raxaul, the largest import point. Nepal imports some 2500 KL of fuel from Raxaul every day.
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