Poor supply leaves Valley denizens high and dry
KATHMANDU, APR 27 - The retail outlets in Kathmandu Valley are running out of daily essentials including edibles, milk, water and petroleum products due to lowered supplies following the massive earthquake on Saturday and aftershocks.
Although the demand for the essentials rose dramatically since the quake hit the nation, the retailers are seen operating their business for a few hours a day.
People were seen thronging the shops to buy noodles, biscuits and water, among others. But they were compelled to return either inadequate stuffs or even empty-handed due to the shortage.
Yashoda Chaulagain from Kavre, who has been taking shelter in a tent with her family and friends in Koteshwor, said that she could not get drinking water at shops nearby. “We are not getting adequate supplies of drinking water, dry food like noodles and beaten rice,” said Chaulagain, adding that some groceries had even been overcharging.
Krishna Shrestha from Dhading, who is taking shelter at the roadside in Gyaneshwor, shared the same problem.
Retailers, however, lamented that the distributers and wholesalers were not selling enough stuffs as demanded by consumers. Shankar Shrestha, proprietor of Sunkoshi Store, Ratopool said, “I am selling whatever items I have in stock as wholesalers are completely out of contact.”
People fear that water shortage could badly affect the life at a time when Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) has not been able to supply water due to devastation in many areas, while the bottled water suppliers running low on stock to meet the valley’s overwhelming demand.
Kishore Manandhar, president of Nepal Bottled Water Association, said that several factories have remained closed as many of their staff did not report to duty after some of the staff and their family members were injured in the earthquake.
The power outage and petroleum shortage also affected the water bottling process, Manandhar said. “We are producing only around half of the valley’s normal demand of 50,000 jars a day,” he said.
Manandhar said they could only supply the limited number of bottled water to the targeted destinations. “Provided there is a smooth fuel supply, we are even ready to distribute water free on the humanitarian ground,” added Manandhar. State-owned enterprises have started distributing goods to ease the supply problems.
Similarly, milk was also on short supply as dairies could not collect milk from farmers across the country. “We’ve got only 85 packets of milk to distribute in the Ratopool area,” said Pranisha Rayamajhi, a retailer in Ratopool.
Similar is the problem of the vegetable traders. “I went to Tukucha Bazaar early morning. There was not enough vegetables. I brought some vegetables paying 25 percent higher than normal days,” said Kalpana Karki, local vegetables vendor.
The Ministry of Commerce and Supplies had urged state-owned food suppliers like Salt Trading Corporation (STC), Nepal Food Corporation (NFC) and Dairy Development Corporation (DDC) to distribute the essential needs for the people across the country.
Nawaraj Upadhyay, deputy general manager of NFC, said that they started distributing rice in affected areas. “In our first stage, we distributed 50 quintals of rice to the affected districts which will be distributed through chief district office,” he said. According to him, NFC has 50,000 tonnes of rice in stock.
Source: eKantipur
