A black market in cooking gas has emerged along the Prithvi Highway in Dhading with hotels and restaurants being forced to pay double due to an extreme scarcity created by the blockade by India. LPG brought from Jhapa and other districts adjoining India are being delivered to the hotels and restaurants here by night buses. A restaurant owner in Malekhu said he bought cooking gas by paying Rs6,000 per cylinder. The usual price for a cylinder of the fuel is Rs3,600. Night buses charge Rs4,500 for the LPG and Rs1,500 for transportation per cylinder, according to him.
