Kathmandu, February 8
Indian Oil Corporation has expressed readiness to supply cooking gas to Nepal as in ‘normal times’. Despite this pledge, shortage of cooking gas is likely to persist in Mid-Western and Far-Western regions of the country, as the IOC has said it will not be able to dispatch gas bullets to these regions due to low volume of production in the Karnal gas depot, which is close to these regions.
The IOC said this in an email to Nepal Oil Corporation. NOC officials hope they will be able to bring in desired quantities of gas bullets to Nepal.
During the Indian blockade, IOC had refused to supply gas in desired quantities on different pretexts. NOC had asked for monthly supply of 29 MT cooking gas. In its email, the Indian supplier, according to NOC Spokesperson Mukunda Ghimire, has pledged to give loading as per the NOC’s demand.
In January, NOC had written to IOC, demanding monthly supply of 35 MT cooking gas. IOC has said it is ready to supply cooking gas in quantities that it used to supply earlier.
The Indian supplier has said it can supply 13,000 MT cooking gas from Barauni every month. Gas bullets originating in Barauni enter Nepal via the eastern trade points of Birgunj and Biratnagar, in the east. From the Haldiya port, IOC has pledged to supply 11,000 MT cooking gas. Bullets originating in Haldiya also enter Nepal through Birgunj and Biratnagar.
It has pledged to supply 5,000 MT gas from Mathura every month. Bullets originating in Mathura enter Nepal through the western trade point of Bhairahawa.
IOC has said it cannot supply gas to Nepal via its Karnal depot, due to low level of production, meaning there may be an acute shortage of cooking gas in Mid-western and Western Development regions of Nepal. Bullets originating in Karnal enter Nepal through Nepalgunj and Dhangadhi, among other points.
In February, IOC has pledged to provide 29,000 MT cooking gas as per the quota. Ghimire said, adding: The Birgunj customs has reopened. Given this context, we hope to be able to address the gas shortage gradually.
These days, IOC has been supplying only 35 per cent of Nepal’s total cooking gas requirement. For 100 days since the blockade began, India supplied only 11 per cent of Nepal’s gas requirements, causing an acute shortage of cooking gas.
Shortages of essentials like cooking gas and medicines, resulting from the Indian blockade and the Madhesh strife, has lives in peril in a landlocked country trying to recover from April 25 and May 12, 2015 quakes that killed around 9,000 people, rendered thousands of people in the Hills homeless, destroyed infrastructure worht trillions and caused huge losses to the national economy.
