Panicky motorists who have been buying gasoline on the black market due to the shortage have learned the hard way the perils of doing so.

Illegal traders have apparently been engaging in rampant adulteration as the fuel crisis has forced people to snap up whatever is available, and reports of seized engines resulting from the use of contraband gasoline have become common.

Vehicle owners have complained of problems like poor ignition and reduced mileage besides engine seizures. As the fuel shortage has severely crippled movement, motorists have been forced to use gasoline smuggled in from Indian border points.

Sales of adulterated fuel in the market have been rising mainly due to the unofficial trade blockade imposed by India for the last two and a half months. Kerosene is the major ingredient being mixed in petrol and diesel.

Petroleum products are being shipped to Nepal illegally from Babagunj, Rupedia, Nanpara and other places in India. They are sold to local gasoline stations for double the price.

Rajendra Giri, president of the Bheri Zone Transportation Entrepreneurs Committee, said that vehicle owners had complained of multiple problems in their vehicles after the use of illegally imported fuel.

“Despite such problems, the public as well as transport entrepreneurs are forced to use adulterated fuel as they don’t have other alternatives amid the severe shortage in the market,” he said.

Prem Bahadur Pun, a transport entrepreneur, said his bus sustained multiple problems after he used fuel imported illegally from India. He paid Rs170 for a litre of diesel against the normal price of Rs83 per litre.

“Since my bus had been waiting in a fuel queue for a long time, I decided to pay extra money so that it could resume operations,” Pun said. “But the illegal product cost me more. My bus stopped in the middle of the road and I had to return the ticket money to the passengers.” Pun also had to spend Rs20,000 to repair the engine.

Indra Bahadur Pun, another transportation entrepreneur, encountered a similar problem. The engine of his bus seized due to the use of adulterated fuel.

Since the market has been reeling under an acute shortage of petroleum products, the administration has not shown much interest in controlling smuggling and sales of adulterated fuel.

Around 300 motorcycles cross the border daily to fill up their tanks at Indian gasoline stations. Most of the engine problems have been witnessed in two-wheelers. “My motorcycle has stopped at various times since I refuelled it at an Indian petrol pump,” said Bhola Hamal in Nepalgunj. “As the market has no fuel, we are becoming helpless.”