Supply of essential commodities from India including medicines however continues from other entry points other than Raxaul in Bihar that connects to Birganj in Nepal.
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China will provide Nepal with 1.3 million liters (340,000 gallons) of gasoline to help it cope with severe fuel shortages as a result of restricted supplies from neighboring India, officials said Sunday.
Amid blockade caused by ethnic parties in Nepal protesting against the division of their ancestral homeland under the new constitution, the Himalayan nation suffers from acute fuel crisis.
The shortages led to overnight queues at gas stations in Kathmandu and prompted the state-run oil company to ask foreign firms to airlift supplies into the country as it struggles to recover from devastating earthquakes.
The first shipment from China is expected to arrive in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu in a few days, said sources at state-owned Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC). Madhesis say Nepal’s new Constitution ignores their rights and interests by dividing the country into seven new regions.
However, different ethnic groups, most prominently the Madhesi and Tharu minorities, claim that the new charter leaves them with little representation in the government. Nepal and China have also recently reopened two border check points – Tatopani and Kerung.
Kathmandu has accused New Delhi of backing the protesters and imposing an “unofficial blockade” to register its dissatisfaction with the new constitution.
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Kathmandu is exploring the possibility of transporting fuel via its northern land crossings with China, one of which re-opened this month after suffering damage in the natural disaster that hit Nepal in April. The issue has sparked violent protests, with more than 40 people dying in clashes during the last several months.
