No Diesel, No Petrol, No Relief - Dependencies Part III

No Diesel / No Petrol We went downtown today. We passed a long line of taxis, abandoned in front of a petrol station. Each day we c...

No Diesel / No Petrol

We went downtown today. We passed a long line of taxis, abandoned in front of a petrol station.

Each day we check the papers for some sign of relief for the Nepalis, but headlines offer none.

No End in Sight - An Article in today's Kathmandu Post

A few fuel trucks have crossed the border, but it is literally a drop in the bucket compared to the need. If it is bad in the Kathmandu Valley, it must be worse in the countryside. I can imagine that some of the hill towns are wondering about the supply of propane for cooking, or fuel for their tractors. I have also read stories about a shortage of fertilizer for crops.

All of this scarcity is happening at a time that is the equivalent to Thanksgiving and Christmas in the west. The weeks leading up to Dashain are usually busy with shopping and preparations (see our post here: http://kathmandu-gurus.blogspot.com/2013/11/a-rainy-visit-to-bhaktapur.html). It will be a different, and more difficult, holiday for Nepal this year.