Fuel crisis has further worsened in the country with Indian customs and security officials tightening cargo movement to Nepal and the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) stopping petroleum supply to the Nepal Oil Corporation.

With fuel stocks depleting, the government has decided to implement odd-even system starting Sunday for all types of vehicles except ones used for essential supplies, those used by security forces and government monitoring units.

International airlines have been asked to refuel their planes at airports abroad citing insufficient stocks at the NOC’s Tribhuvan International Airport depot in

Kathmandu.

This means vehicles with odd registration numbers can ply on odd dates while those with even plate numbers can operate on even dates.

The Home Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that continued obstruction at bordering customs points and the IOC not supplying petroleum products have created an abnormal situation in fuel supply. The ministry said the odd-even system was introduced to best utilise the available fuel stock in the country.

Home Ministry spokesman Laxmi Prasad Dhakal said that the government was forced to take unpleasant decision due to current supply situation of petroleum products. “The move is expected to reduce the oil consumption of vehicles by 50 percent,” he said.

A meeting of Home, Physical Infrastructure and Transport and Commerce and Supplies ministries, Nepal Oil Corporation and Nepal Police took the decision, according to officials.

According to Jib Raj Koirala, joint-secretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies, it is the first step towards managing the fuel crisis. “Additional measures will be taken if the supply obstruction persists,” he said.

The Home Ministry also asked the public to adopt austerity measures in consumption of petroleum products until supply returns to normal, requesting the people not to keep stock. Considering the possibility of black-marketing in the crisis situation, the government has also warned of strong legal actions against petrol pumps and other stakeholders if they are found causing artificial shortages.

Meanwhile, the state-owned oil monopoly NOC said it would provide limited supply of petroleum products to private petrol pumps starting Tuesday if the IOC continues to halt supply. According to the NOC, the IOC has halted fuel products supply for the past two days and it has not been informed whether it will resume supply from Sunday. Many NOC oil tankers are said to have reached Raxaul to bring in petrol, diesel and other products.

NOC Managing Director Gopal Bahadur Khadka said government-run petrol pumps would get enough supply from Tuesday but private gas stations would get limited stocks. As Sunday and Monday are holidays, the NOC will start supplying fuel from Tuesday.

No stock: LP gas dealers

KATHMANDU: Nepal LP Gas Industries Association said on Saturday that none of the refueling plants has cooking gas stock currently due to the “embargo” imposed by India.

In a notice, the Association said many gas bullets loaded from IOC’s refinery plants have been stranded in India and there has not been new loading of gas from IOC deopts since Friday. It has also requested the government to ensure smooth supply of the cooking gas.