Phidim, February 6:

Continued strikes in the Terai region has led to scarcity of essential goods including petroleum products in Panchthar district headquarters Phidim and rural areas.

“The stocks of rice, pulse, salt and other daily consumption goods have finished and lack

of transportation facilities, owing to shortage of petroleum products and the strikes in the Terai regions, has made it difficult to supply them from the plains,” said Mitra Lal Kafle, chairman of Panchthar Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The shortage of daily consumption goods has hit life hard in Phidim, Ranke, Yasok, Ranigaun, Jorpokhari, Gopetar, Thrpu, Amarpur and other bazaars of Panchthar district and some bazaars of Taplejung district as well, said the local consumers and shopkeepers.

The villages dependent on these bazaars for supply of goods are also facing hard times.

“Some shops in the bazaars here are on the verge of closure due to lack of goods because whatever materials they had for sale have already been sold out and they have no stock left over,” said Devi Champagai, a businessman in Ranigaun.