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By Our Reporter

Nepal is facing another cooking gas shortage. People are waiting in long lines to get a cylinder, while officials say there is enough supply. Official sources claim gas imports are sufficient. But many households are still unable to get gas easily. This shows the problem is not just about supply, but about how it is being distributed.

Hoarding appears to be main culprit. Authorities and industry players argue that households storing multiple cylinders have created an artificial shortage. There is some truth there. Many families do keep extra cylinders, shaped by years of uncertainty. But blaming households alone is like blaming passengers when a bus company cannot manage its routes. The deeper issue sits in how gas moves from border to kitchen. That chain is messy, opaque, and conveniently unaccountable. Import may be steady, but distribution is where things begin to bend. Dealers, traders, transporters, and officials all sit in that chain, and not all of them play fair.

Hotels and restaurants, both big and small, often manage to secure gas even during shortages. That does not happen by luck. Many are willing to pay extra or maintain close ties with suppliers. When a dealer has limited stock, priority quietly shifts toward those who can pay more or influence more. The ordinary household, standing in line, is last in that order.

Then comes the more uncomfortable part, collusion. Traders and some officials have long been accused of working together to create artificial scarcity. When supply tightens, prices in the informal market rise. A cylinder that is hard to find officially suddenly becomes available at a higher rate through unofficial channels. That kind of pattern does not emerge on its own. It needs coordination, or at least silent agreement.

The presence of millions of excess cylinders in the market adds another layer. Regulators have known for years that the number of cylinders far exceeds actual need. Yet there is no proper tracking system, no clear policy on how many cylinders a household or business should hold, and no effort to bring the numbers under control. So when demand rises, no one really knows where the stock is or who is holding it.

Nepal’s dependence on imports makes everything worse. The country relies fully on India, and India itself depends on global supply. Any tension abroad, like recent conflicts in the Middle East, creates anxiety here. Even if supply continues, fear alone can push demand higher. Without storage capacity to absorb shocks, the system cracks quickly.

Storage is perhaps the most obvious missing piece. Nepal does not have reserves to manage even a short disruption. Plans to build storage facilities have been discussed for years, then quietly forgotten each time leadership changes. It is a classic case of knowing the problem and doing very little about it.

Policy confusion adds to the mess. There is no clear direction on reducing gas dependence or promoting alternatives. Electric cooking remains more of a talking point than a serious shift. So the country stays locked into a system it cannot fully control. If this shortage continues, the impact will not stay limited to inconvenience. It will begin to reshape daily life. Households will turn to firewood and other traditional fuels, increasing pressure on forests and indoor air pollution. Small businesses, especially food related ones, will face rising costs or shut down temporarily. Prices of cooked food will climb, feeding inflation.

More worrying is the erosion of trust. When people see that essentials are available only through connections or extra payment, faith in the system weakens. Rules start to feel optional. Informal networks replace formal systems. That is how parallel markets grow.

The longer the crisis lasts, the more it rewards those who bend the rules and punishes those who follow them. That is not just an energy problem. It is a governance problem. For now, the official line remains that there is enough gas. Meanwhile, people continue to stand in line, hoping that this time they will not return home empty handed.