Kathmandu, 10 Jul: Under the Clean Energy Project funded by a grant from the Asian Development Bank, electric vehicles brought to Lumbini in Mangsir 2077 (November-December 2020) have remained unused until now. The Lumbini Development Trust has now planned to operate these buses according to a public-private partnership model.
Following a directive from the High Court in Butwal to change the registration of 19 electric vehicles—including 5 buses and 14 vans handed over for tourism purposes—from white plates to green plates for operation as intended, a committee has been formed under the coordination of the Trust’s Vice Chairman, Larkel Lama, to manage their operation through private sector partnership.
According to the Trust’s Secretary Sanuraj Shakya, the board has decided to proceed with a contract process to entrust the operation of these vehicles to the private sector. He mentioned that once the Vice Chairman, who is currently in Paris, returns, the process of calling for tenders and other related steps will move forward.
Shakya revealed that the tender could possibly be called by the end of the month of Shrawan (mid-August). The vehicles will be handed over to the private sector to operate within the Lumbini circuit area, and the Development Trust will receive a fixed amount from this arrangement.
The electric vehicles brought for the Lumbini Development Trust with a grant of 130 million rupees from the Asian Development Bank have finally received green number plates after five years. This paves the way for the operation of these vehicles.
Initially, the vehicles, which had white number plates, faced legal obstacles to operate for tourism purposes. Regarding these vehicles that remained unused for a long time, the joint bench of Judges Rajeshwar Tiwari and Punyashila Dawadi Ghimire of the High Court Tulsiipur, Butwal bench, issued a directive on Chaitra 11 (late March) to convert the electric vehicles available to the Lumbini Development Trust to green number plates and allow their operation for tourism purposes. Three months after the court’s directive, the Transport Management Office in Butwal has recently issued green number plates for these vehicles.
Following this court order, the Lumbini Development Trust decided to convert the plates to green and operate the vehicles, according to the Trust’s Public Information Officer, Dr. Haridhwaj Rai.
In 2077 BS (2020 AD), the Asian Development Bank provided 14 electric vans and 5 electric buses with the aim of facilitating tourists visiting Lumbini and reducing pollution in the area.
When the vehicles arrived under the name of the Lumbini Development Trust, they had white number plates, which caused problems for carrying tourists, so they were kept idle. However, some vans were used by officials and employees of the Lumbini Development Trust.
Due to being idle for a long time, some of the vehicles have now reached a state requiring repairs. Sanuraj Shakya, the Secretary of the Lumbini Development Trust, told Ratopati that these vehicles have been sent to garages for maintenance.
He informed that some buses have broken windows and other vans have malfunctioned, so they were sent for repairs. Since the repair costs are to be covered by the insurance company, the process has been delayed somewhat.
A solar plant and charging station were constructed in Lumbini with an investment of 350 million rupees for charging the buses and vans. However, since the buses and vans have not been put into use, the charging stations have also remained unused.
When Clean Energy imported the vehicles to Nepal, it paid customs duties amounting to 80 million rupees. The buses, which are air-conditioned, disability-friendly, and equipped with automatic doors, have a seating capacity of 19, while the vans have a seating capacity of five. Once fully charged, the buses and vans can run up to 400 kilometers, and they also feature a card payment system for fare collection.
