Fuel crisis in Terai region in Nepal may spark stir

NEW DELHI: Inadequate supply of oil to the Terai region in Nepal from Kathmandu could trigger yet another internal bickering in the country, especially after India has resumed normal shipments.

Officials said supplies by Indian Oil Corporation, which were earlier hit by constitutional crisis and violence, are getting normalised through six entry points along India-Nepal border. However, there are allegations that the Nepalese government is dragging its feet in sending adequate supplies to the Terai region that has been the theatre of violence due to discrimination against Madhesis and other groups in the new constitution. Although nonavailability of oil and cooking gas in Kathmandu valley and hills have hit global headlines, the crisis in Terai allegedly perpetuated by the hill administration is a little-known fact, they said.

Nepalese government officials, however, dismissed these allegations. “On average 100 tankers of Indian Oil Corporation enter Nepal every day to meet demands of citizens and government. While some supplies have been restored, only 30-40 tankers are entering Nepal, severely paralysing life. But we are not discriminating against Terai,” Nepal’s Ambassador to India Deepak Kumar Upadhyay told ET.