Tenfold increase has been recorded in gas consumption in Humla, the rural district of the country where road operations are not smooth in the last six months. Gas consumers have increased steeply because gas is cheaper than firewood though the price of gas is higher than it used to be in the past.

Hira Shahi, a local resident of Sarkegard, said that only 15 households used to use gas for cooking previously but the number of households using gas has reached around150 now. “The electricity is not regular and there is a problem with firewood too. This is why the attraction of consumers towards gas has increased,” he said. There are 170 households in Sarkegard Rural Municipality.

Cooking gas costs Rs. 4,500 in Sarkegard. Shahi says the price of gas is the same in Salisalla and Piplang, the centre of Changkheli Rural Municipality. It costs only Rs. 4,000 in those places.

Geeta Lama, another local resident of Simkot, said that more than 220 families started using gas. She says earlier, when the price of gas was Rs.14,000 per cylinder, only 20 families used to use it. “The number of people using it increased over time as gas is cheaper, faster and easier than firewood,” she said, adding that two to four new consumers started using gas every day.

Gas trader Lokendra Shahi said that 10 times more consumers have started using gas compared to six months ago. He assumes that the declining price of the gas was an attraction among the consumers. “The price of gas in Simkot was Rs.14,000 previously but it is available at Rs. 6,000 now. It must be the reason gas users increased,” he added.

In the early days, he used to transport 15 to 20 cylinders per month on the back of a mule but he has to deliver more than sixty cylinders nowadays. “Bringing it with the help of animals was so tough but thankfully the transportation shifted from animal to jeep now,” he added.

According to him, traders bring gas cylinders by jeep to Salisalla in Changkheli Rural Municipality and then transport it on the back of a mule to Simkot which takes one and a half days to reach.