Kathmandu, March 9
Nepal has around 1,800 fuel tanks in operation. Of them, around 1,300 are involved in theft, according to the government-run fuel distribution monopoly, Nepal Oil Corporation. It is around 72 per cent of the total.
The corporation’s Executive Director Surendra Kumar Paudel says the tanker operators were found making false chambers, using pipes in the service tank, and adulterating to steal fuel.
Paudel claims the corporation took action against all of them.
The corporation’s Thankot depot chief Pradeep Kumar Yadav says a mechanical locking system introduced some years ago, by investing millions of rupees, has completely failed in controlling thefts.
“In the first two months, the theft was completely stopped, but then it seems they learned to steal anyway,” he surmises.
Meanwhile, the tanker operators have refuted the charge. Bishwa Prakash Aryal, the president of the Nepal Petroleum Dealers National Association, says the corporation wanted to come into the limelight by accusing the tankers of theft.
He claims most of the tankers are not involved in the theft, and even if they are, they are doing it in cahoots with the corporation staff.
