Petroleum shortage hits valley again

Supply of petroleum products to the Kathmandu valley has come to a standstill again, as tanker drivers went on a strike demanding the adoption of international standards of shrinkage and loss calculation.
 
Tanker drivers under the Nepal Independent Transport Workers’ Union (NITWU) halted transporting petroleum products from Nepal Oil Corporation’s Amlekhgunj depot on Thursday, stating that the state-owned petroleum supply monopolist failed to meet their demands.

“As a result of the strike, dealers have not received petroleum products from the Thankot depot for the last three days,” said Sharad Bhandari, general secretary of Nepal Petroleum Dealers Association (NPDA).

Most of the petroleum refilling stations in the capital city fixed with 'no petrol' sign Thursday, while fewer dealers that distributed the fuel saw queues of vehicles. The crisis surfaced in the market on Thursday due to the cumulative impact of the strike, which was going on since Monday.

The drivers have mainly demanded a rise in the margin of technical loss such as shrinkage margin, parking facility, reduction in fine slapped on them in case of short delivery, among others.

They had launched strike placing similar demands in November 2006, and later withdrawn it after NOC agreed to fulfill their demands. It even constituted a committee to study the international standard of shrinkage loss pledged to the transporters.

“But it (NOC) left the issue lingering even as months have passed since it committed to address the issue,” said Bishwa Shrestha, petroleum tanker operator, elaborating the reason for the strike by drivers.

The corporation officials, however, claimed that the matter remained unaddressed because the drivers and tankers themselves did not cooperate with the committee to perform the entrusted task.

The corporation even sought explanations from transporters for not transporting the fuel and directed them to settle the strike, holding a meeting on Thursday.

However, tanker operators refused to intervene in the matter, saying that the corporation has already made specific commitments on it in the past, and they cannot impose any changes on it.