Nepal’s
capital city, Kathmandu, is usually a bustling hot pot of bumper-to-bumper
traffic, noise, pollution and the odd cow on the road. But nowadays it's eerily
quiet, as Sophie Cousins discovered.
Deutsche Welle, 11 Oct 2015
On the main
roads you can count on your hand the number of cars and motorbikes that drive
by; bicycles are now the main mode of transport. On a positive note, the smog
has lifted from the city to showcase the wide-ranging, snow-capped Himalayas,
which draws thousands of tourists to the land-locked country every year.
But, while
it may be quiet on the streets of the capital, it's a different story at petrol
stations across the city. Taxis have been lined up at petrol stations in
southwest Kathmandu for the last week, unable to work due to the fuel crisis.
"I
have been waiting in my car, queuing, for the last six days. The situation is
very bad. What can I do? I need fuel to work," taxi driver Trilocan M.R
told DW, while dusting his white, beaten-up taxi. "Maybe by Sunday or
Monday I will be able to get fuel."
 |
| Waiting for hours for a meager amount of fuel |
A blockade on Nepal's border with India has halted imports, disrupting supplies for more
than two weeks during clashes between police and protesters opposing the
country's new constitution that have seen more than 40 people killed.
Reliant on
India
Nepal is
completely reliant on India for all its fuel, food and medicine imports.
Thousands of trucks are stranded at the border, which has lead to a severe
shortage of fuel, resulting in school and restaurant closures, astronomical
taxi prices and public transport shortages. As the blockade on the border shows
no sign of easing, Nepal is now considering airlifting fuel from either
Bangladesh or Malaysia, according to local news reports, and may build a
petroleum storage plant near its border with China.
Back at the
petrol station, the army and police try to control crowds as they line up with
jerricans and empty bottles of water.
People in
the crowd push and shove one another in attempt to reach the only pump with
fuel, yelling with frustration that they've been standing for more than 12
hours.
As a result
of the critical fuel shortage, taxi drivers are now charging four times the
fare to make up for the days they haven't been able to work.
At Purano
Bus Park in central Kathmandu the scene is chaotic as hundreds of Nepalis cram
onto the rooftop of the limited buses that are still running; babies are passed
around over people's heads, and the elderly are shoved and pushed until they
get a seat inside. Those who don't manage to squeeze onto the bus, hang off the
side of its doors, or stay and wait, hoping for another bus to arrive.
 |
| There have been chaotic scenes in Kathmandu |
Tourists
staying away
The fuel
shortage is not only affecting transport around the country. Restaurants and
hotels have been hit hard by another issue making headlines around the world,
only a few months since the devastating earthquake that killed more than 9,000
people.
While
tourists are slowly returning to the country for the trekking season, hoteliers
fear that the latest crisis will further deter people from visiting.
Numerous
restaurants have been forced to shut down or offer very limited menus. The only
seemingly bustling restaurants in the tourist district were those that can
serve wood-fire pizza.
Keshab,
owner of Karma Travellers Home, a small hotel in the tourist district of
Thamel, said the fuel shortage was of huge concern. "The situation is
terrible," he told DW. "I have a few customers but nowhere near as
many as I usually would for this time of the year. Customers who are coming to
Kathmandu are emailing me asking if there's food to eat because of the fuel
shortages. I tell them yes, you have breakfast for as long as I have gas, but
after then, no," adding that he'd sent his children back to his village
where there is firewood.
After the
earthquake, Keshab saw a huge spike in the number of cancellations and is
worried that the strikes and fuel crisis could further affect his business.
"Nepal,
I think, is a beautiful country. When people come here they say they feels like
home, that they like it much better than India. I hope this crisis will be
resolved soon."
The crisis
is also affecting Nepal's world-famous forests, thousands of which are under
control of locals to for sustainability purposes. Krishna Bahadur Khadka from
the Federation of Community Forestry Users Nepal, an umbrella organization of
community forests across the county, said he was highly concerned about the
spike in demand for firewood.
"The
fuel situation is a big crisis for the community forests where now more people
are getting firewood for cooking," he told DW.
"We
are worried that people are now cutting down trees which means carbon emissions
are being increased and contributing to deforestation."
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