As the shortage of petrol has made daily commute in the Valley difficult, good Samaritans are turning to social media to organise carpooling to offer each other a ride.

People have started offering free ride to working people in need through social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

On his Twitter account, Bimal Babu@twit2bbk states, “SayYes To Lift, If your vehicle and motorcycle has a space, give lift to people waiting at the bus stands informing them your route.”

Likewise, Kolin Bikran Rana, who has been running a campaign on Facebook with#HelpNepal said he has already given lifts to six people along the Tribhuvan Airport-Kirtipur route in the past three days.  “It’s not only me, many of my friends have joined this campaign, it’s a high time to show our solidarity,” Rana said.

Twenty-year-old Saurabh Dhakal, who used Rana’s motorbike on the route, said he saw Rana’s facebook status and

contacted him. “This campaign is really helpful. I had to reach the airport in order to receive money from my relative,” he said. Originally from Morang, Dhakal is a student at Apex College in Old Baneshwor.  

Similarly, Ashimit Khadka also posted similar status on his Facebook wall and provided free lift to two people on Tuesday alone. He said he helped Anisha Pradhan, to travel from Siddhartha Vanasthai to Swayambhunath, and Binay Chhetri to go to Chabahil from Machhapokhari. “It’s time to work for the country. Both of them contacted me via Facebook. I went home with great smile,” Khadka said.

Till Tuesday, a lot of such messages have been pouring in social media with #HelpNepal.

After India imposed an “undeclared embargo”, Nepal government introduced odd-even number plate system for even and odd dates and also announced quota system to distribute petrol and diesel. As a result, the number of vehicles on the roads has decreased heavily, making it difficult for commuters to reach their

destinations.

Thirty-three-year-old Mohan Joshi of Tinkune, who works as area sales manager for a pharmaceutical company, said he offered lifts to three people in the past two days. “I request all my friends to join this campaign to help people in need. We cannot tolerate India’s bully anymore. We have to be self-dependent and the government should arrange an alternative route for petroleum import as soon as possible,” he said.

On Tuesday, the situation looked worrisome as very few vehicles were seen on the road and a large number of others were lined up at various patrol pumps.

According to the Department of Transport Management, around one million vehicles are registered in Bagmati zone and among them, 700,000 are motorbikes and the remaining are three and four wheelers. The DIG Jay Bahadur Chand of the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division said less than half of all vehicles were on the road on Tuesday. “But if the blockade continues for a week, roads will be empty,” he said.