Rush hour Kathmandu. Roll down your window and sniff the air. That is the smell of kerosene, and it is the smell of corruption. It is surprising that when the Centre for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) began its dramatic crackdown on corrupt officials last month, it chose not to begin with the most blatant and obvious area of malfeasance in Nepal today: fuel adulteration.

More than 60 percent of the diesel and nearly 50 percent of the petrol sold in gas stations in Nepal are adulterated with subsidised kerosene. This is done right under the noses (and with the connivance of) the Nepal Oil Corporation by retailers, wholesalers and transporters. The tentacles of adulteration reach up to the highest echelons of what has come to be known as "Nepal Oil Corruption", and through them it lubricates with payoffs the palms of politicians.

There have been numerous investigative reports in media in which the culprits have even allowed themselves to be photographed and have spoken on record, defending their right to dilute our diesel. When the administration cracked down on gas stations last year, they went on strike and the government had to back down: effectively saying that it was okay to adulterate.

Leave aside for now that the adulteration has serious health hazards: suspended particulates cause respiratory infections and asthma, the benzene and toluene in emissions are carcinogens. (See "Adulterated economy" by Chakra Khadka, #105). Let's just look at what it does to the health of the nation: Nepal Oil Corporation sells some Rs 12 billion worth of fuel every year. Based on a conservative average of 50 percent adulteration, we are looking at a Rs 6 billion loss to the exchequer. The CIAA had to start somewhere with its crackdown on graft, and it is understandable that they went after the parasites in the tax department since the government's revenue is hit badly by corrupt officials.

But cracking down on adulterers wouldn't just result in healthier citizens, it would also yield Rs 6 billion a year in cash savings-nearly eight percent of Nepal's national budget! Need we say more? The culture of corruption has become ingrained because of the politics of exclusion that, in turn, has tainted the system inviting the dangers of democratic reversal. (See Dipak Gyawali's adjoining piece.)

We don't know why Nepal didn't make it to Transparency International's latest Perception of Corruption Index in which Bangladesh got the grand prize. Maybe because in Nepal graft is not a perception anymore, it is an everyday reality. The CIAA's arrest of 22 tax officials has spooked some in the customs department, but elsewhere it is business as usual. It is now impossible to do things legally, we are penalised for being honest.

Corruption is like fish: it rots from the head down. We can't wait for the CIAA's crackdowns to trickle up the food chain. And we will know this country has been cleansed when ordinary citizens can go about their daily lives without being asked to cheat, bribe, or lie to get the simplest things done. And will also, ultimately, be the test of our democracy.