Samsara wrote above: "...nothing like this ever happened when the goddamn king was there." I beg to differ. I still remember back in 80's as a kid standing on long lines for hours for kerosene, sugar, water, etc. I do not know whether we had shortage of petrol because we did not have car then. But also, there were less than 25% of today's number of vehicles. Netas have done very little to solve this issue. And whatever they have done have not been effective to say the least. Way I see it, it is the matter of simple business economics. The supply has to keep up with demand. Monies need to be paid for the goods purchased. When the supplier is not paid, he will stop the supply. NOC needs to figure out a way to do good business. On the other end, the people who are suffering from the shortage of petrol are the same people who complain about the higher fuel price and increased bus ticket price. If NOC is to make enough money to pay IOC, then it has to make that money by selling petrol at the price that is sustainable. I do not think people can have it both ways. I am not sure what the price of petrol is in Nepal. Assuming it is around Rs.70 or $1 per litre, the price of the fuel there is about the same as here in the US, about $3.80 per gallon. And the US has one of the lowest fuel price in the world. If one is to buy the same gallon of gas in Europe or Japan, the cost would be more than twice that amount. Nepal, not having its own source of oil, is bound to be charged more for it. Now, there are few things Nepal Government can do about this situation. 1. Put in public money to repay the debt owed to IOC and subsidize heavily to keep the price of oil artificially low. I would think this is a bad idea and not sustainable. 2. Let Adam Smith's invisible hand take its course and allow the price of oil to soar as market dictates. This will work, but lot of poor people will suffer heavily until the market forces equalize. 3. Implement and enforce regulations to curtail the number of private/small vehicles and increase the availability of mass transit. This will reduce the amount of oil consumed and keep the economy rolling. I would say that it is high time that government look beyond symptoms and actually tackle the cause of this problem. I know it is a lot to ask, given the short-sighted nature of our leaders, but I do not see any other solution. What say you?