The Nepali public is reeling under bandh fatigue that has already paralysed their daily life. The residents of the Kathmandu Valley, in particular, are at the receiving end as they have been plagued by acute shortages of petroleum products such as kerosene and gasoline, while mounds of garbage are rising up across the capital, with virtually no access for people to health services in the absence of doctors and lack of transportation. But more worrisome is the fact that Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), the state-owned supplier of petroleum products, has only four days’ stock of petroleum products left. NOC is in a tight spot, firstly, because it owes its supplier, the Indian Oil Corporation, Rs. 4 billion, and secondly, the banks are not willing to oblige NOC with the loan to the tune of Rs. 3 billion, citing the latter’s inability to repay.

Opening up of the blocked highways is necessary to replenish supplies, but the 19-day general strike is so total that resuming highway transport does not seem feasible unless a political solution is found, as bringing the oil tankers and cargo trucks under escort has had only a limited success. More importantly, the doctors’ warning of the possibility of maternal and newborn deaths shooting up as a result of the bandh raises concern. To address this problem, ambulance services should be beefed up during curfew hours. No less important is the removal of stinking garbage on a war footing before epidemics break out and life comes to a grinding halt in the Valley.