Kathmandu. Surkhet has already supplied 38,500 LPG cylinders in the last 20 days, compared to Rs 20,000 to Rs 26,000 per month in the past. Consumers have not stopped standing in queues for not getting gas.

Some consumers complained that they could not eat without lighting the stove as the gas supply was out today. Umesh Shahi, a student of Chandannath Technical School in Birendranagar Municipality-3, Surkhet, said he was compelled to consume noodles for the past two days.

Senior citizens, new mothers, people with disabilities and students standing in the queue like Umesh have been facing problems. Consumers go to the dealer with empty gas from 2 am. Umesh said consumers are compelled to wait for 27 hours to get gas.

Unlike in the past, gas is not easily available whenever needed. Although most of the people here are dependent on LP gas for cooking, most of the people here have the option of cooking gas. There is no easy availability of firewood and cow dung in the city. Those who depend on gas have been facing problems due to its shortage. When they get gas, they feel like they have won the biggest battle of their lives.

Mina Khatri of Birendranagar Municipality-7, Surkhet said that getting gas is like winning a big battle. “In the meantime, many people survived by eating noodles, biscuits and beaten rice as there was no stove. I also had to face that compulsion. Today, I finally got gas. Now the stove was burning. However, the bodies concerned should carry out effective market monitoring and create an environment where gas is easily available as in the past,” he said.

Like him, most of the people who do not have access to gas have to go hungry for many days. Meena said that most of the students, senior citizens, new mothers, people with disabilities and students have been affected by this. Ram Prasad Pandey, a local of Birendranagar Municipality-4, lamented, “Even though those who have access to cooking gas have been consuming gas from various sources for their daily use, it has become very difficult for the simple people to light the stove.”

Meanwhile, a team from Nepal Oil Corporation, District Administration, Police, Bureau of Standards and Metrology, Federation of Nepali Journalists and National Consumer Forum, Surkhet under the Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment of Karnali Province carried out regular market monitoring since Wednesday.

Administrative Officer at the Directorate of Industry and Consumer Interest Protection, Krishna Bahadur Rokaya, said that the team monitored the quantity of LPGs, price and weight as per the fixed price and distribution of LPG cylinders. According to him, monitoring of Sagarmatha Traders and Orders, New Sudiksha Traders and Suppliers, Sinja Order and Suppliers, Man Suppliers, New Mina Traders, New Bhairav Suppliers and Karki Stores in Surkhet has been made more systematic than in the past.

Nepal Oil Corporation’s Surkhet Information Officer Ram Kumar KM said that in the past, half of the LPG cylinders were distributed soon and the consumers were afraid of shortage in the market. He expressed the belief that there would be no shortage of cooking gas in the next month due to the supply of gas in the Birendranagar Valley.

Information Officer KM said that the authorized distributors have been directed to sell Bheri, Rapti, Nepal Gas, Karnali, Manakamana, Radiant and Saipal Gas at Rs 2,060 in Surkhet. According to him, directives have been issued to distribute LPG cylinders on priority to senior citizens, new mothers, people with disabilities and students.