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Amid a deepening shortage of cooking gas across the country, District Administration Office, Mahottari has intensified surprise inspections of the supply and distribution system of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) across the district.

A team led by Chief District Officer Indradev Yadav inspected 117 LPG depots operating in all 15 local levels of the district by Saturday evening.

During the inspections, 23,936 of the 28,745 gas cylinders stocked at the depots were found to be empty. Only 1,353 cylinders were found filled with gas.

According to the inspection report made public by the administration, the highest number of filled cylinders - 288 - was found at depots in Samsi Rural Municipality. Depots in Bardibas Municipality had the lowest stock, with only 10 filled cylinders.

According to the administration, LPG brands including Nepal, Narayani, Nobel, Jagadamba, Ambar, Super, Prima, and Manoj are being distributed in different parts of the district.

Although the district has been facing an acute shortage of cooking gas for about a month, the administration concluded that no hoarding or black marketing was found during the inspections.

Chief District Officer Yadav said no irregularities were found in the supply and distribution of LPG during the inspections.

According to him, consumers were found to be receiving the gas supplied to the depots without difficulty.

However, some consumers were found to be storing more gas at home than they normally require, fearing that the shortage could worsen in the future, said Pawan Kumar Karki, a representative of Bardibas Municipality who was involved in the inspection.

Madhav Neupane, chief of the Area Administration Office in Bardibas, said consumers had been urged not to stock more gas than they needed, as excessive hoarding could create an artificial shortage in the market.

The administration said it had received no complaints from consumers that they were unable to obtain gas or that the shortage had affected their daily lives.

Local LPG dealers, however, said the shortage had resulted from inadequate supplies to meet demand and consumers storing more gas than they needed.

Saroj Shrestha, president of the LP Gas Entrepreneurs' Association in Bardibas, said, “By Sunday morning, 800 people had already registered bookings at my depot. Jagadamba Gas Industries supplied 204 cylinders last night. It took less than an hour for all the cylinders to be sold out."

He also said the imbalance between demand and supply had been worsened by consumers from the southern parts of Sindhuli district and neighbouring areas of Dhanusha bordering Mahottari coming to Bardibas to obtain LPG amid the shortage.

By Rabindra Upreti