Hotels and restaurants in the Capital are facing difficulties to provide cooked food to customers, with some even having to shut operations, owing to the present shortage of cooking gas.

Following India’s unofficial trade blockade on Nepal, the country has witnessed a severe shortage of petroleum products and cooking gas.

‘On Road Nepali Chulo’, a fast-food restaurant in Tinkune will be shutting its operation from Sunday onwards owing to the shortage of cooking gas. “All the stock we bought in the black market is finished,” lamented Rekha Ale, owner of Chulo. Ale informed that she had exchanged a cylinder for Rs 3,000 a week ago.

Heaven Restaurant in Tinkune faces a similar fate.  “We have enough stock for two more days. But we will not be able to run the restaurant from Tuesday. We will only be operating our coffee shop and sell bakery items made by the use of electricity,” said Hari Krishna Giri, one of the owners of the restaurant.

Over 40 percent of hotels and restaurants have already shut their operations in the Capital. Among the 75 hotels associated with Kalanki Hotel and House Association (KHGHA), 40 have already closed.  “Others are on the verge of closure,” said Tulsi Ram Bhandari, secretariat of the association.

Several hotel owners have also complained of not being able to provide food and proper water services for their guests. “We have rooms, but are not in the state to provide food. Our customers come to sleep after eating out, but Tandoori shops in the area are also running short on cooking gas,” said Bimal Bhandari, owner of Kantipur Guest House in Bagbazaar. Bagbazaar has over 50 guesthouses and restaurants.

Bhandari said the number of guests has steadily decreased in Bagbazaar as the shortage of petroleum products has slowed down vehicular movement in the Valley.

The guesthouse owner also informed about not being supplied with water on time. “We are not getting water tankers, and within five days we will have to face shortage of water. Water doesn’t run in the tap and the wells have gone dry, so we are on the verge of closing our guest house,” said Bhandari.