Kathmandu Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Deepak Kumar Sah has said that a short-term plan has been put in place to control the shortage of LP gas, hike in the price of petroleum products and abnormal prices of daily essentials.

Responding to the questions of the lawmakers in the National Assembly, Minister Sah said that the ‘fishbone diagram’ has been used to identify the reasons for the shortage of gas. He said that import dependence, international prices, storage and refilling, disparity in distribution, delay in return of empty cylinders, black marketing and lack of inter-agency coordination are the main reasons.

“The government is very serious about the difficulties faced by the general public due to the shortage of LP gas cylinders. The government is continuously working to solve the problems related to gas,” he said, adding that the ministry has used a fishbone diagram, a tool of technical analysis, to identify the problem. ”

According to him, the road at Krishnabhir is on the ‘critical path’ of the supply process, and works have been forwarded in coordination with the Department of Roads and customs and transport management has also been facilitated.

Minister Sah said that 857,821 cylinders of gas were imported in August, which is 25.56 percent more than the previous year. He said that there is no shortage of petrol, diesel and aviation fuel at present.

In the long-term, he said that petroleum pipeline would be extended up to Lothar of Chitwan, construction of greenfield terminal, expansion of storage capacity, petroleum storage in Karnali and infrastructure construction for storage of LP gas in Sarlahi.

Minister Sah said that instructions have been given to set the maximum price of sugar at 110, the traders have been directed to reduce the price of daily essentials including rice by 10 to 15 percent and 25,000 metric tonnes of sugar has been imported from India. He said that the process of adding technical manpower has been started to make the market monitoring effective and the government is positive to expand the consumer court.