Kathmandu, March 18 -- Deyan Sunuwar, 20, of Mulpani was finally able to refuel his motorcycle at Shakti Devi Petrol Pump, Lagankhel run by the Nepal Army after driving halfway across the valley to buy gasoline.

According to Sunuwar, most of the gasoline stations were closed as they had run out of stock, and the few that were open were already besieged by motorcyclists.

"I went to more than 10 petrol pumps to refuel my motorcycle, but none of them was open," said Sunuwar. "Those that were opened had a long queue in front of them."

Rajesh, 32, of Pepsi Cola had a similar tale of woe. He stood in a queue for an hour at the army petrol pump at Lagankhel to refuel his scooter. Panic-stricken, he topped off his gas tank and also bought extr...