Kathmandu, February 25:

The Nepal Oil Corporation’s decision to distribute fuel from designated petrol pumps to designated vehicles turned out to be a move to manage the crowd instead of smoothening the supply, as situation has not changed much for those queuing up to get a refill.

Dhan Bahadur Ale, who was in a long queue outside Maitidevi Petrol Station when this reporter met him, complained, “I joined the queue at 3 am today but the petrol pump is yet to start distributing diesel,” he said.

Krishna Shrestha, purchase executive of Everest Hotel, Baneshwore said, “The shortage of fuel has hit us hard. We need more diesel to run the generators, considering the load-shedding.” He added that buying fuel to run generators has led to a three-fold increase in their expenses.

Motorcycle owner Arjun Ramtel came down heavily on the government for its helplessness. “The government is not serious to address the people’s woes. I have been waiting for more than six hours to get six litres of petrol. And even now I’m not sure whether I’ll get it,” he said. Ramtel was waiting outside a petrol pump at Sinamangal.

Another motorcyclist outside Bhadrakali petrol pump was quite livid. “One has to spend the whole day just to get six litres of petrol. By designating petrol pumps and categorising vehicles, the NOC actually wants to scatter the crowd to avoid unruly scenes,” he added.

Now listen to what petrol pump staff have to say. A staffer at Sinamangal petrol pump claimed, “We did not receive petrol today. There is a such a long queue. It seems our stock will not meet the demand of all the vehicles,” he added, preferring not to be named.

Supplies manager of NOC Mukunda Dhungel said fuel supply was delayed due to some technical snag.

Office secretary of the Nepal Petroleum Dealers’ Association Narad Bhandari said the policy of designating petrol pumps for different vehicles was not a good one, as people should be able get a a refill from desired pumps.