The government has directed the LPG dealers to provide the details of cooking gas, including its amount imported from India, to the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC). 

It is said the government took this measure for the effective distribution of cooking gas amidst the acute shortage of this fuel. 

The Ministry of Commerce and Supplies issued the directive requiring the LPG dealers to provide particulars regarding the volume of gas imported as well as its sale and distribution mechanism. 

The Ministry has asked for details as the amount of gas bullets imported from India, the name of the LPG industry, the date for refilling, the name of the dealers, sellers and distributors to whom the cooking gas is supplied to. Such details are to be submitted on a regular basis to the Control Room set up at NOC. 

It has also given the fax number for providing this information. The fax number is 4263499. The Ministry has warned of taking stern action against the LPG indistries not providing the details on a regular basis. 

Shiva Prasad Tripathi, Under-Secretary at the Ministry, said the directive had to be issued after the LPG industries started distributing cooking gas from the industries' plants itself. 

Meanwhile, the government has constituted a six-member fuel management mechanism under the coordination of the Director of the Department of Commerce and Supplies Management for the fair distribution of the available fuel. 

Under-Secretary Tripathi said the high-level mechanism has been formed as it was found that there were malpractices in the distribution of cooking gas, that LPG cylinders have been distributed from the industries itself, the retail sellers had not been supplied the cooking gas and the distribution was disproportional. 

There are more than 6,000 LPG dealers in Kathmandu Valley. Around 6.2 million LPG cylinders in use in the country and two million cylinders are used monthly. 

The country is reeling under acute shortage of LPG due to the agitation in the Terai which is on since the last two months and the over-one-month undeclared border blockade imposed by India on Nepal. The daily demand for LPG in the Capital stands at 50,000 cylinders. RSS