. Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has been claiming that there is sufficient stock of LP gas across the country.

The NOC has also urged the consumers not to stock LP gas as it is imported more than the requirement. Chief Executive Officer of NOC, Chandika Prasad Bhatta, said that the supply of LPG through the social networking site has eased smoothly and the consumers need not be worried.

According to the NOC, the supply management has come under pressure as consumers have been using more gas than required due to fear of gas shortage in the Kathmandu Valley in recent days. However, the NOC claims that there will be no shortage of LP gas now as sufficient quantity of LP gas is being supplied from India.

However, consumers complain that gas is not easily available in various cities including Kathmandu. The owner of a snack shop in Naxon says, “There is a shortage of gas in the market, to bring a cylinder of gas, one has to keep the cylinder in line for 3-4 days.” ’

According to him, there is no easy supply of gas in the market. A dealer at a dealer in Baluwatar said, “There has been less import of gas. Due to this, there is a shortage of gas in the market. According to the businessmen, the gas shops themselves have not been able to bring as much gas as they demand. As a result, there is a shortage of gas in the market, he said.

The dealer said that there was no gas from the depot. As a result, the vendors of the depot say that the customers have to return empty-handed.

“A lot of gas comes here. Nepal gas is low. “The dealers have sent less gas citing shortage of gas,” he said, adding, “We had to return the customers empty-handed as the gas dealers could not provide as much as they demanded.” ’

Students and low-income families who have only one cylinder are among the worst hit by the gas shortage. Consumers complain that even if those who have two or more cylinders are not facing much problem, those who rely on only one have to close their kitchens.

Shiva Dhamire, immediate past president of the LP Gas Industry Association, said that gas has not been imported in the market at present. Currently, there is a demand for more than 150 bullet gas in the Nepali market. However, he says that there is a shortage in the market as the imports are less than that.

“We have asked for gas in the market. However, the NOC has not been able to import as much as it demands,” Dhamire said.

However, the NOC has claimed that the import of LPG is more than the demand. NOC Spokesperson Manoj Kumar Thakur urged the consumers not to panic as the supply of cooking gas was more than the demand.

According to Thakur, the daily requirement of 90 bullets (around 114,000 cylinders) is more than that in the recent days. According to him, the gas was loaded from the Indian Oil Corporation this week and it has already arrived in Nepal. He claimed that most of the bullets were on the way to Nepal.

According to the corporation, the market will be completely normal within some time as directives have already been given to resolve the problems seen in the cylinders of some industries and to ease the supply. Stating that the supply of LPG would remain smooth during the upcoming election period, the corporation has appealed to the consumers to purchase only as per the need.