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Long queues of gas cylinders line distribution centers across Kathmandu, laying bare the government’s failure to manage the supply crisis. Distribution centers remain unable to provide clear timelines, forcing consumers to deposit empty cylinders with the grim expectation of waiting anywhere from two weeks to over a month for a refill.

While ordinary citizens spend entire nights queuing on the streets only to face cold stoves, the influential remain unaffected. Ministers and well-connected households continue to receive gas effortlessly, with sources reporting direct home deliveries following a simple phone call. Naturally, no complaints of shortages have emerged from ministerial residences.

As public frustration mounts, ruling party lawmakers admit it is becoming increasingly difficult to face their constituents. During Wednesday’s parliamentary session, Rastriya Swatantra Party MP Madhu Kumar Chaulagai voiced his outrage: "There is a severe shortage of gas in the market right now, making it embarrassing for us to even walk among the public. What is the government doing?"

Industry Minister Focused on Stunts

Rather than addressing the supply chain, Minister for Industry, Commerce, and Supplies Gauri Kumari Yadav appears occupied with political spectacle. She has repeatedly shifted blame - alternately accusing business owners of hoarding and staff of non-cooperation.

A prime example occurred on August 12 (Shrawan 28), when the minister’s secretariat inspected the five-star Radisson Hotel and found 184 cylinders, immediately claiming the establishment was hoarding gas. The Department of Commerce, Supplies, and Consumer Protection was later forced to issue a public clarification contradicting her secretariat's claim.

While Minister Yadav continues to issue unenforced directives to ease supply, her hands-off management and reliance on publicity stunts leave the core issues unaddressed - leaving everyday citizens to pay the price.Industry and Commerce, and Labour and Consumer Interest Committee meeting, where Minister Gauri Kumari spoke. Photo: News Agency Nepal

Minister Yadav is now blaming others because she is unable to accept that she has failed to ensure an adequate supply of cooking gas.

Speaking at Wednesday’s meeting of the Industry and Commerce, and Labour and Consumer Interest Committee, she blamed government employees and gas industry operators for the shortage. “I have begged everyone - industrialists and employees alike - to make the gas supply easier. Apparently, begging doesn’t work,” she said. “Our bureaucracy is operating according to the interests of the industrialists. The employees are not supporting me right now. What can I do?”

Arguing that the large number of gas industries is also making gas supply difficult, she even suggested that some industry licenses should be revoked. She also said that gas industry operators needed to be dealt with forcefully. “Gas supply will not become smooth until the industrialists are brought under control,” she said.

According to her statement, Nepal would need only two gas industries. There are currently 58 gas industries in Nepal. Although these industries earn tens of millions of rupees through the gas trade, they too have failed to take the situation seriously as citizens struggle to keep their cooking stoves running.

It was barely 11 a.m. on Wednesday, but the heavy autumn air outside the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) office in Teku carried a palpable weight of anxiety. Desperate residents - some carrying heavy, hollow steel cylinders, others clutching crumpled tokens - harbored a fragile hope: that today might finally be the day they could cook a warm meal.

Instead, they met the same weary refrain from security guards at the gate: "Gas isn't available here. Move along."

Among those turned away was Niklesh Sah. After being told by his local depot that he would need to register for a coupon and wait up to a month for a refill, Niklesh rushed to Teku out of sheer desperation. Facing weeks without fuel in a city that feels increasingly inhospitable, he now contemplates giving up entirely.

"If I have to wait a month just to get cooking gas, how am I supposed to stay in Kathmandu?" Niklesh asks, staring at his empty cylinder. "I might as well go back home."

A City of Cold Stoves and Broken Routines

Across the valley in Tahachal, Kamal Joshi stood in a sprawling line on Tuesday, clutching his empty cylinder. A student living in Kirtipur while preparing for his civil service exams, Kamal ran out of gas over two weeks ago. He has survived only by borrowing small amounts of fuel from friends, eating sporadic meals, and skipping breakfast altogether to stand in endless lines.

"It was almost 1 p.m. and I hadn't eaten anything yet," Kamal shared. "And even after waiting all day, I won't get gas today - just a token. They say it takes 15 to 20 days after getting a token to actually receive a cylinder. As a student, I don’t have the money to go buy an induction cooker."

The crisis isn't just straining households - it is crushing small livelihoods. Near the New Buspark, local restaurant owners are being forced to alter their daily menus to conserve what little fuel they have left.

"We've had to stop selling momos altogether because they take too long to steam," one hotel owner explained quietly, wishing to remain anonymous. "The government cut off commercial supplies, saying there's a shortage. Those of us running small eateries on two or three cylinders are completely stranded."

Parallel Realities: The Powerful vs. The Powerless

While everyday citizens face sleepless nights and endless queues on city streets, a stark inequity has emerged across the capital. Influential households, senior officials, and ministers reportedly face no such delays. Sources reveal that for the well-connected, a single phone call to a distribution center is often enough to deliver a full cylinder directly to their doorstep.

This widening gap between the privileged and the public has turned political tempers high. During Wednesday's parliamentary sessions, lawmakers voiced intense frustration over the administration’s inability to manage basic supply chains, noting that elected representatives can barely face their constituents while citizens go hungry.

Blame Games and Bureaucracy

While the government cites landslides along key highways like Krishnabhir for the ongoing bottleneck - having previously blamed consumer stockpiling - critics point out that alternative transit routes via Hetauda remain underutilized.

Rather than offering concrete logistics solutions, Industry, Commerce, and Supplies Minister Gauri Kumari has faced sharp criticism for relying on publicity inspections and deflecting responsibility onto industry operators and civil servants. Speaking at Wednesday’s Industry, Commerce, and Labour Committee meeting, she lamented the lack of cooperation within the supply chain:

"I have begged everyone - industrialists and employees alike - to make the gas supply easier," Minister Yadav stated. "Apparently, begging doesn’t work. Our bureaucracy is operating according to the interests of the industrialists... What can I do?"

Yet for students like Kamal and workers like Niklesh, political excuses do little to light a stove. As 58 gas industries and government agencies continue to trade blame, thousands of families across Kathmandu sit down to another evening with cold kitchens, wondering how much longer they can survive on empty promises.