Due to the blockade at major entry points along the India-Nepal border since September due to the protesting Madhesi community, consumers are being forced to pay heavy price for petroleum products. Smugglers and black marketers reportedly get hold of the oil and gas brought from the Tarai for the Kathmandu Valley at the expense of the public, thanks to a nexus between bosses at the NOC, the authorised distributor of petroleum products in Nepal. That’s why oil is not available at petrol pumps, while it is easily available in the black market. NOC, in cahoots with smugglers, is reportedly making fast money through unscrupulous means citing an oil crisis and efforts to bring oil from China. Whatever quantum of LP gas (cooking gas) enters the Kathmandu Valley ends up in five-star hotels and in the households of those, who wield power, while the commoners have no option but to return empty-handed even after queuing up at gas depots for hours.
