Oct 18, 2015- A Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) team, which has reached the Indian capital, has started the process of rerouting loaded gas bullets that have been stuck at the Birgunj-Raxaul border point for a month.
The Nepali delegates discussed with high-level officials of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) about rerouting the trucks from Raxaul. There are 256 bullets carrying liquefied petroleum gas stranded on the border. NOC officials plan to send them to Nepal via the Bhairahawa-Sunauli border. Following an acute shortage of fuel in Nepal, NOC officials presented the alternative in New Delhi. Acting Director of the NOC, Mukunda Prasad Ghimire said they talked to the IOC officials on Saturday. Ghimire met SS Bosh, who monitors IOC’s trade with Nepal. They agreed to the rerouting plan following a meeting with NOC Executive Director Gopal Bahadur Khadka who reached New Delhi on Saturday afternoon.
After the agreement, the Indian officials directed their office in Mumbai to work on necessary documentation. Officials said the stranded carriers would enter Nepal within a week from Sunauli as well as other viable points. The Nepali Embassy in Delhi had taken initiatives to find a passage to the blocked cargo. The NOC estimates to meet the festive demand for cooking gas if 256 bullets reach Kathmandu within a minimum of seven days. The monthly demand for LPG in Nepal is 450 bullets. “We don’t have any gas in stock,” he said, citing the lack of storage facilities. A bullet contains up to 18 tonnes of gas which can fill 1,200 cylinders. The vehicles will have to make a detour of around 250 km to enter via Sunauli. Besides fuel tankers and gas bullets, there are around 2,000 cargo trucks stranded in Raxaul, India.
42 fuel tankers enter Nepal
KATHMANDU: As many as 42 fuel tankers entered Nepal from various customs points on Saturday. Sixteen tankers arrived via Trinagar in Kailali. According to the customs office, 13 of the vehicles carried diesel, two petrol and one kerosene. Our correspondent in Biratnagar said only eight tankers came in via Jogbani. Nine diesel and eight petrol tankers and a gas bullet entered through the Bhairahawa-Sunauli border. (PR)
Published on: The Kathmandu Post (October 18,2015)
