Consumers are once again facing scarcity of petrol and diesel. Sometimes it is attributed to bandhs or on other occasions to the inability of Nepal Oil Corporation to pay its loans. This time around it is once again the disgruntled transporters who are opting to discontinue their services with various demands. The authorities have conceded to some of them, but they are having a tough time meeting all that is asked. This time around Nepal Tanker Drivers’ Association (NTDA) is demanding the fixation of minimum wages and also the allotment of parking areas, among others.

These demands may be reasonable and need to be looked into. However, it is a pity that the drivers who were ferrying these essential commodities are agitating and have stopped doing so since Monday. The consequence of this is that there is a shortage of petroleum products again. Desperate vehicle owners are compelled to line up in long queues to get their quota of fuel that is not enough. The scarcity has a spiralling effect in the market prices which tend to skyrocket with the disruption of oil supply. Meanwhile, there are certain people happy who manage to make windfall by selling this scarce fuel in a clandestine manner.