BIRGUNJ: Nepal on Sunday imposed nationwide restrictions on vehicle use due to growing fears of a fuel shortage, as protesters seeking changes to a new constitution vowed to keep blocking a major border trade route.

Drivers are allowed on the roads only on alternate days, depending on whether their licence plates end in odd or even numbers, to try to counter the effect of the blockade imposed on the India-Nepal border since Thursday night.

“The government has decided to limit the number of vehicles moving across the country due to the fuel shortage,” home ministry spokesman Laxmi Prasad Dhakal said.

“We are facing a huge problem because of the blockade in the south and are trying to use the fuel we have effectively.”

Hundreds of protesters called for amendments to the constitution as they blocked a bridge crossing in the town of Birgunj, 90 kms south of Kathmandu, that serves as the key hub for oil and food imports into landlocked Nepal.

Published in Dawn, September 28th , 2015

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