The country is likely to witness a severe crisis of petroleum products again after the cash-strapped Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) slashed distribution of petroleum products by nearly 50 percent in the capital city. 
    According to Wednesday's report of The Himalayan Times, NOC supplies manager Mukunda Dhungel said the corporation headquarters had directed its Thankot depot to distribute only 410 kiloliter of petroleum products a day to the dealers from Sunday, while the demand stands at around 800 kl.  
    "We had to take the harsh decision as we don't have the money to finance regular import with the price of fuel surging in the international market," Dhungel said. 
    Shortly after the Constituent Assembly polls on April 10, the state-run oil monopoly had slashed the supply of diesel and kerosene to dealers by nearly 25 percent.  
    "Supply would go down further in the days to come if no immediate intervention is made to regularize the import," Dhungel said.  
    An NOC source said the corporation plans to import only 75,000 kl of oil this month as compared to 83,000 kl it imported last month.  
    The supply will keep on decreasing unless the government immediately came to its rescue -- inject more money to cover for the ever-growing losses due to subsidies or hike in international prices, the source said.  
    "Nepali consumers would face an unprecedented crisis, something beyond their imagination, within the next few days if the government did not take a bold decision immediately," cautioned Shiva Prasad Ghimire, chairman of the Nepal Petroleum Dealers' Association.