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LPG shortage worsens as flood-damaged roads disrupt supplies to Kathmandu
🇳🇵 Nepal /Energy & Infrastructure

LPG shortage worsens as flood-damaged roads disrupt supplies to Kathmandu

From OnlineKhabar English · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Flood damage to the Prithvi Highway has blocked a major LPG route into Kathmandu, worsening a shortage that residents say has lasted for weeks.
  • Nepal Oil Corporation and LPG suppliers are using smaller alternative routes, but landslides, traffic controls and limited truck capacity are slowing deliveries.
  • Residents, students and people living alone have struggled to obtain cylinders, while some communities have protested by placing empty cylinders on roads.

Kathmandu’s cooking-gas shortage has deepened after the Bhotekoshi flood damaged the road network that normally carries LPG into the capital. The August 26 flooding washed away part of the Prithvi Highway at Krishnabhir in Dhading, along the Trishuli River corridor.

The highway links Kathmandu with the southern plains, where LPG cylinders are refilled before being sent north. With the route blocked, large LPG trucks cannot reach the city. But residents say the crisis began before the flood. Some people in Kathmandu and other districts say they have gone without a cylinder for weeks, with some waiting as long as a month.

I haven’t got gas for 10-12 days. They don’t even take our names at the dealer. They just say to come when the gas arrives.

— Shyam DumreA Kathmandu resident described the difficulty of obtaining cooking gas.

At dealers in Chabahil, Banasthali and Anamnagar, consumers say they are told simply to wait. “I haven’t got gas for 10-12 days,” Chabahil resident Shyam Dumre said. “They don’t even take our names at the dealer. They just say to come when the gas arrives.” Students and people living alone have been especially affected because they depend on LPG for cooking. A student in Bhaktapur said he had been without gas for a week and was alternating between meals at friends’ rooms and restaurants.

Authorities and the LPG industry are sending empty cylinders from Kathmandu to plants in Chitwan, Dhanusha, Bara, Parsa, Makwanpur and Nawalparasi. Trucks then bring the refilled cylinders back. The alternative roads, however, cannot match the Prithvi Highway’s capacity and are narrower and vulnerable to landslides. One-way traffic controls have been introduced on some sections, while further landslides have disrupted movement. “Gas is being filled at plants in Chitwan, Nawalparasi and Parsa, but the roads are not yet in a condition to bring it here,” said Nepal LPG Industry Association president Diwan Chand.

Gas is being filled at plants in Chitwan, Nawalparasi and Parsa, but the roads are not yet in a condition to bring it here.

— Diwan ChandThe Nepal LPG Industry Association president explained why alternative supplies are not reaching Kathmandu efficiently.
About this summary

Originally published by OnlineKhabar English in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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