CHITWAN, Sept 5: Gas entrepreneurs have stepped up efforts to maintain the supply of cooking LPG to the Kathmandu Valley following the collapse of the road at Krishnabhir along the Prithvi Highway.
The move follows permission from the state-owned Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) for gas companies to bottle LPG cylinders outside the Valley and transport the filled cylinders to Kathmandu.
Industrialists, including Nepal LP Gas Industry Association President Diwan Chand and former presidents Shiva Ghimire and Gokul Bhandari, held discussions with truck operators in Makwanpur to facilitate the supply of cooking gas to the Valley.
According to former association president Bhandari, gas industries outside Kathmandu are facing a shortage of empty cylinders. Empty cylinders must be transported from the capital to industries outside the Valley for refilling before being brought back to Kathmandu.
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Bhandari, who previously operated Nepal Gas, said cylinders belonging to his company are currently being bottled at Nepal Gas Gandaki in Chitwan. However, the company has been unable to meet demand because of a shortage of cylinders.
Nepal Gas supplies around 11,000 cylinders daily in the Valley. Bhandari said preparations are underway to send 8,000 to 10,000 cylinders to Kathmandu every day within a few days.
Association member Bimal Kalakheti said other gas industries have also begun transporting empty cylinders from the Valley to their facilities outside Kathmandu, where the cylinders are being filled and transported back to the capital.
He said there are 16 gas industries in Kathmandu and neighboring districts.
According to association President Chand, Kathmandu normally requires around 40,000 LPG cylinders a day. However, consumption has surged, with daily demand reaching as high as 100,000 cylinders.
Chand said the situation is expected to normalize within a few days as efforts are underway to coordinate gas industries and transportation through an institutional mechanism.
He said a small vehicle can transport around 450 cylinders, while a large truck can carry about 500 filled cylinders and around 600 empty cylinders.
Of the LPG produced by 58 industries in Nepal, around 40 percent is consumed in the Kathmandu Valley.
Nepal imported 60,200 metric tons of LPG from India last month, the highest monthly import volume so far, according to Chand.
He said there would be no shortage of LPG if imports continue at the same rate.
