KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 7 Kathmandu Valley is running short of cooking gas, with consumers having to queue for hours - and in some cases for days - as a key lifeline road connecting the capital with the Tarai remains blocked by a landslide. The Valley needs around 40,000 LPG cylinders a day, but only about 25,000 are currently reaching the market, leaving a daily shortfall of roughly 15,000 cylinders, according to the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) and the Nepal LP Gas Industry Association (NLPGIA). The shortage has followed the disruption of the Nagdhunga-Muglin road after the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers swelled during the floods on August 26. A large section of the Prithvi Highway at Krishnabhir in Dhading was washed away, cutting one of the main supply routes into Kathmandu. The road has remained blocked for eight days. The impact is being felt beyond LPG. Supplies of petroleum products and foodstuffs have also been affected as trucks struggle to get into the Valley. NOC spokesperson Manoj Thakur said more than 100 LPG bullets were being loaded and cleared through customs every day, but many had been unable to reach Kathmandu because of the road blockage. 'Those bullets have been stranded because of the Krishnabhir landslide,' Thakur said. 'We are currently filling cylinders at Tarai depots and bringing them to Kathmandu in smaller vehicles through alternative routes.' Normally, large tankers carrying up to 21 tonnes of LPG travel directly from Tarai depots to Kathmandu-based gas industries. With the main road blocked, however, many of those tankers have been left stranded. Only 17 to 18 of the country's 58 LPG industries are currently filling cylinders, with most of the operating plants located in the Tarai. Kathmandu-based industries have not been receiving enough LPG to operate at normal capacity. For consumers, the shortage has brought another problem - higher prices. The NLPGIA has added Rs 105.38 more per cylinder, including tax, as an additional transportation charge from Thursday. The price of a cylinder in Kathmandu has consequently increased from Rs 2,060 to Rs 2,165.38. Some consumers have complained that certain dealers are charging even more. NLPGIA president Diwan Bahadur Chand said 18 of the 22 industries supplying Kathmandu Valley had been unable to receive LPG bullets, forcing businesses to source gas from Tarai-based plants and transport filled cylinders to the capital in smaller trucks using alternative routes. Industry operators say the additional charge is justified under a provision allowing transportation costs to be adjusted when goods have to be transported over distances of more than 50 kilometres. They say the alternative routes have added Rs 180.80 to the cost of transporting each cylinder, although the association claims that cost is being shared among transporters, gas companies and consumers. Meanwhile, queues outside gas depots have become a familiar sight. People carrying empty cylinders have been turning up at Kalanki, Balaju and different parts of Lalitpur late at night in the hope of getting a refill the following day. Some say even that is not enough. Consumers have complained of waiting in line for two or three days without getting gas. Those with only one cylinder say they are particularly disadvantaged when others arrive with several empty cylinders. In some cases, consumers say the stock runs out before their turn comes, forcing them to return home and try again the next day. The industry association has acknowledged problems in the distribution system. 'Some dealers have been sending their own employees to stand in queues as consumers and holding back gas,' Chand said. He informed that the NLPGIAhad proposed distributing LPG on the basis of consumers' identity cards to prevent such practices, but the plan could not be introduced because of opposition and criticism. The immediate question for consumers is when the shortage will ease. NOC officials say supplies should improve once the Krishnabhir road is reopened. But reopening the road will not mean an immediate end to the queues. 'Once the road is fully operational, gas availability in the market should increase within three to four days,' Thakur said. Even then, industry officials expect consumers to wait at least another week before the situation returns to normal. The stranded tankers will first have to reach the industries, the LPG will have to be refilled into cylinders and the cylinders then distributed through dealers. Chand said the shortage would end only when sufficient LPG reaches Kathmandu's industries and they are able to operate at full capacity. Until then, consumers are likely to face both shortages and the additional Rs 105.38 charge per cylinder. The prolonged disruption has also raised concerns about hoarding, black-marketing and preferential distribution as the gap between demand and supply widens. For a capital that depends heavily on a handful of road corridors for supplies, the LPG crisis has once again exposed how quickly a disaster affecting a single stretch of highway can hit everyday life in Kathmandu.