Kathmandu, November 28

Nepal Police has appealed to all to be cautious about the adverse effects of unsafe storage and reckless handling of petroleum products.

The appeal comes in the wake of rampant transportation of petrol and diesel to the Kathmandu Valley and other parts of the country by private and public vehicles amid the acute shortage of fuel.

“Hoarding of fuel in houses without appropriate safety measures, open sale and distribution of fuel in bottles and jerry cans and unsafe transportation of fuel may result may invite a disaster leading to loss of lives and property,” said Nepal Police Spokesperson DIG Kamal Singh Bam.

He also urged all to call at 100 or 4411549 or 4412780 and inform the police if they come across such activities. They may tip-off to the law enforcement agency via Facebook or Twitter.

Three members of a family died and one sustained critical burn injury when a fire engulfed a house in Koteshwor on October 9. The fire broke out from a burning candle when Lekhraj Shrestha (32) of Ramechhap district, a taxi driver, was pouring the petrol into another vessel. Shrestha, his wife and eight-year-old daughter, died in the incident.

Nepal Police arrested as many as 128 black-marketeers, hoarders and transporters with 33,727 litres of petrol, 28,173 litres of diesel, 1,415 litres of kerosene and 79 filled or half-filled Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders from different parts of the country over a period of one month.

Of them, 42 were held from the Kathmandu Valley in possession of 22,079 litres of petrol, 3,603 litres of diesel, 40 litres of kerosene and 21 cooking gas cylinders.

They were caught either ferrying the petroleum products to the Valley or selling them on the black market.