1 Feb 2015, Kathmandu - As Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) struggles to maintain smooth supply of liquefied petroleum gas in the country, LPG bottling companies have claimed that lack of bullets (cylindrical pressure containers) to import the fuel from India has further compounded the problem.
Even though the Indian government has directed the Indian Oil Corporation to
increase the LPG supply to Nepal, companies in Nepal have been unable to ramp up the import volume to fill the shortage as they own only a limited number of bullets, according to an owner of an LPG bottling plant.
NOC spokesman Mukunda Ghimire, however, claimed that there was no logistical problem concerning LPG shipment as claimed by the bottling companies. He said that there were enough containers (350) to transport the essential commodity to Nepal from India. “Seventy containers are currently on their way to Nepal,” Ghimire said.
NOC’s decision to sell LPG cylinders from specified areas inside Kathmandu Valley has failed to address the shortage . It distributed 22,483 cooking gas cylinders of 22 companies through its 352 depots on Saturday.
Nepal LPG Sellers’ Association said that it did not receive sufficient number of cylinders for distribution on Saturday. “Many customers had to return empty-handed,” said Gyaneshwor Aryal, president of the association.
Eight LPG bottlers did not distribute refilled cylinders on Saturday, claiming that they could not import sufficient volume of cooking gas due to the lack of vessels.
Meanwhile, some gas traders have started selling LPG cylinders, taking advantage of theshortage .
“This has made the situation worse,” said an NOC official. “Some traders are selling gas cylinders when they should be exchanging the used cylinders with refilled ones.”
No comments :
Post a Comment