Kathmandu, Mar. 14: Those who use cement, which is the backbone of development and construction work, are still not fully familiar with its efficient and effective use.

Though cement has been in use for construction work since the 19th century, it is unfortunate that the method of its use and durability have not yet become fully transparent, according to managing director of Cosmos Engineering Services Subodh Prasad Timilsina.

Lack of thorough knowledge about cement use in the construction of bridges, buildings and various other projects may lead to some major accidents in the future, it is feared.

As most cement users are not aware of its efficient and effective use,manufacturers should publish manuals mentioning dates of manufacture and expiry and methods of usage for distribution among the users, according to managing director Timilsina.

The world-wide annual consumption of cement is 500,000,000 metric tons (mt) of which 600,000 mt is consumed in Nepal.

Forty-eight per cent of the demand for cement in Nepal is met through domestic production, 49 per cent through imports from india and rest from various other countries.

As the cement industry in Nepal is unable to meet the internal demand, cement worth more than one billion rupees is imported annually.

According to the Ministry of Industry, the annual consumption of cement in Nepal in 1994-95 was 564,220 mt of which 146,500 mt was imported at a cost of Rs 27,400,000.

In 1998-99 the consumption was 507,692 mt of which 255,692 mt was imported at a cost of Rs 997,200,000. Cement worth Rs 994,500,000 was imported from india alone in 1998-99.

The annual production capacity of the cement industry in the country is 695,000 mt, including 661,000 mt or 95 percent in the government-owned sector. The other cement producers are small and their annual contribution is 300,000 mt.

The total production of Himal Cement Industry, Hetauda Cement Industry and Udayapur Cement Industry together was 335,100 mt in 1994-95and 267,356 mt in 1998-99.

According to engineer Rajendra Prasad Mandal, theCement industry should operate at full capacity as current levels of internal production do not meet domestic demand and cement worth millions has to be imported annually.

As the production and expirty dates are not mentioned on the bags of cement produced in Nepal, users are facing difficulties. The concerned authorities should therefore look into the matter seriously, it is sated.

The use of cement in Nepal started around 1950 and the demand has soared since the 1960s. Himal Cement industry was established in 1975, Hetauda Cement Industry in 1985-86 and Udayapur Cement Industry in 1991-92. In the private sector Annapurna Cement Industry, Tribeni Cement and Maruti Cement have been producing on a small scale.

In the beginning Himal Cement Industry had an annual production capacity of 48,000 mt. This was increased to 110,000 mt in 1986-87, but its hs not been able to manufacture more than 48,000 mt annually.

Likewise, Hetauda Cement Industry has the capacity to produce 264,000 mt annually, but has not been able to produce more than 136,998 mt. Udayapur Cement industry has a capacity of 277,000 mt, but the output is only 165,707.

While production capacity has not been fully utilised, millions are being spent on imports.

Supply of cement without considering the quality is not a solution to the problem. Construction contractor Balaram Shaha says that supplying of cement of standard quality is equally important for protecting investment worth millions of rupees in various sectors and regions. The users should also be fully familiar with the quality of the cement they use.