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In a bid to avert shortage of cooking LP gas in the Kathmandu Valley after road collapse at Krishnabhir on the Prithvi Highway, entrepreneurs have turned active.

The gas industrialists and entrepreneurs got into action when the state-owned Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) permitted them to bottle cylinders outside the Valley and bring them in.

Industrialists, including President of Nepal LP Gas Industry Association Diwan Chand, former Presidents Shiva Ghimire and Gokul Bhandari discussed with the truck operators in Makwanpur to ease the supply of cooking gas.

According to former President Bhandari, there is a shortage of empty cylinders in industries outside the federal capital. Empty cylinders in the federal capital have to be loaded onto trucks and brought to the industries. Cylinders filled through all three trucks need to be sent to the valley.

Bhandari, who used to run Nepal Gas, said the cylinders from his industry are being 'bottled' at Nepal Gas Gandaki in Chitwan. Due to the shortage of cylinders, they have not been able to fill them as per demand.

Nepal Gas has been selling 11,000 cylinders daily in the valley. According to him, preparations have been made to send 8,000 to 10,000 cylinders to Kathmandu daily within a few days.

Association's member Bimal Kalakheti, shared that other industries have also started bringing empty cylinders from outside the valley in trucks, bottling them, and then sending to the valley. He shared there are 16 gas industries in the valley and neighboring districts.

According to the Association's President Diwan Chand, around 40,000 cylinders are daily in need in Kathmandu under normal situation. Currently, consumption has reached a point where even 100,000 cylinders are being used.

He said the problem will be solved in a few days since efforts are being made to systematically arrange industries and transportation in an institutional manner.

A motorcycle carrying gas can carry 450 cylinders. A large truck can carry 500 filled cylinders and about 600 empty ones, he said.

Out of the gas filled by 58 industries in Nepal, 40 percent is consumed in the valley.

Last month, 60,200 metric tons of gas was imported from India, which he said, was the highest quantity so far.

There will be no issue of shortage with the gas getting imported at the same rate, he added.

By Narayan Adhikari