Major wholesalers said that sales of mosquito nets had soared threefold because they were also being distributed to earthquake victims as relief materials. The mosquito menace increases with rising temperatures and the monsoon.

Meanwhile, demand for anti-mosquito mats, coils and vaporisers has jumped in the market, said traders.

“We have not been able to bring imported goods to Kathmandu as commercial containers are not being allowed to transport them from the Tatopani Customs Office,” said Chandra

Shrestha, proprietor of Everest Traders at Mahabauddha, a wholesale trader. “We had ordered around 100,000 mosquito nets, but they have been stuck at the customs office for a month.

The Tatopani Customs Office has not been operational since the earthquake on April 25.

Araniko Highway that connects Kathmandu and Tatopani has also been badly damaged by the quake.

Shrestha said that demand for mosquito nets had also increased as people wanted to distribute them as relief materials. Sales of mosquito repellents reach a peak during the May-June period.

Most traders in market streets like Mahabauddha, New Baneshwor, Pepsicola, Chabahil and Putali Sadak said they were fresh out of stock of certain types of mosquito nets.

“My suppliers said that they didn’t have enough stock as mosquito nets were being distributed as relief materials while many shipments were stuck at the border,” said Binod Poudel, one of the retailers at Pepsicola.

Prices have also gone up with some retailers charging Rs700-Rs800 for a mosquito net that costs Rs350 wholesale due to the shortage. Consumer activists said that the overpricing was not being controlled.

“No monitoring has been done although mosquito nets are very important as many people have been taking shelter under tents,” said Madhav Timilsina of the Consumer Rights Research Forum.