NATIONAL 1 (Spotlight Weekly)]

Unclean Attitude

The government's decision to suspend registration of electric three-wheelers sparks a new round of controversy

By A CORRESPONDENT

There couldn't have been worse gift to mark the millenniumís first World Environment Day. Just as international media were beginning to praise Nepal for taking a series of environment-friendly decisions and were branding Kathmandu as the only city in the world with the largest fleet of electric vehicles, the Ministry of Labor and Transport decided to suspend the registration of Safa (electricity-driven) tempos in the valley.

"The decision (to suspend) was taken as a task force is currently carrying out a study on the carrying capacity of roads in the capital," said Chhabi Raj Panta, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Labor and Transport. "It is the government policy to gradually restrict registration of vehicles and that is why we have decided to suspend the registration of all three-wheelers including Safa tempos."

But there are few takers to the reasons offered by the government in suspending registration of Safa tempos. Environmentalists claim that it is a weird decision to suspend the registration of environment-friendly electric vehicles in the name of carrying capacity. "It is not a logical act to prohibit Safa tempos at a time when the world is busy with research and development of alternative fuels such as electricity, wind and solar " reads a statement by Martin Chautari, an NGO working in the field of Alternative Fuel Vehicles.

Strangely, though the government claims it is serious about the carrying capacity of the roads in the Bagmati zone, it has not suspended the registration of private vehicles and instead is targeting the highly appreciated Safa tempos. Stranger still, it has also not decided to stop the 500-odd micro-buses that are waiting to enter the capital valley soon.

The governmentís decision made public on May 30 has created a lot of furore among the environmentalists and general public in Kathmandu. Minister of State for Labor and Transport Surendra Hamal, who is said to have endorsed the decision, has since left for Switzerland to participate in a meeting of ILO.

While Minister of State for Population and Environment Shiva Raj Joshi has protested the decision made by Transport Ministry saying he was away in Sweden when the decision was taken. Apparently irked by the decision to suspend registration of Safa tempos, Joshi said the environment should be cause of concern to all government units and not merely the Environment Ministry.

Donors, too, have joined the bandwagon. Dr. Henning Karcher, Resident Representative of UNDP, has termed the decision as "alarming". Danish officials, too, have warned that the decision could affect their other projects. The government of Denmark has agreed with Nepalese government to help in a number of pro-environment programs including the development of electric vehicles.

Addressing a program organized on the occasion of World Environment Day, June 5, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala said he has already ordered concerned ministers and National Planning Commission members to look into the controversy surrounding the decision and come up with proper solution. He, however, said there are reasons to be concerned about Safa tempos, too. "I am not a technician. But as a lay man I think that batteries used in Safa tempos are disposed in the land releasing acids and lead. There is a need to conduct research on this aspect also."

Encironmentalists flay the decision to suspend registration of electric three-wheelers.

But environmentalists claim that Safa tempos are the best option in the present context. Amod Prasad Pokharel, an environmentalist, says zero-emission and electricity powered vehicles are logical items to a hydropower-rich nation like Nepal.

Likewise, Bimal Aryal, who is associated with Martin Chautari, says as batteries used in Safa tempos have a considerable scrap value, they are unlikely to be disposed-off arbitrarily.

The governmentís decision has come out of the blue especially as the public, environmentalists and economists were lauding the role of the electric vehicles. "The reduction in the air-pollution level was remarkable ever since the Safa tempos replaced the smoke-belching diesel-run three wheelers in September last year," said Bhakta Bahadur Balayar, former Minister of State for Population and Environment. Balayar is noted for taking a number of environment-friendly decisions like removing diesel-run tempos from the valley and introducing Nepal Mass Vehicle Emission Standard 1956 (which is in line with Euro 1 provisions).

"This recent decision has surprised me. May be the government officials did not engage in thorough discussions before taking the decision. Instead of promoting clean energy, the decision has done the opposite," said Balayar.

Meanwhile, the Safa tempo entrepreneurs seem to have been caught unaware by the decision. "The decision is so sudden. This is unfair. We simply cannot believe it. They have said the decision to suspend is only for three months but the electric vehicle industry will suffer severely," said Ashok Raj Pandey, chief of Nepal Electric Vehicle Industries.

At present there are nearly 600 electric tempos plying through the Kathmandu valley with more than one thousand people directly employed in the sector. The limited speeds and small sizes of Safa tempos are ideal for cities like Kathmandu.

Entrepreneurs associated with the electric vehicles submitted a letter to the Prime Ministerís on May 31. They have demanded that the government withdraw its decision citing that the electric vehicle industry is a more than Rs 450 million industry which utilizes off-peak hour electricity generating Rs 20 million revenue for Nepal Electricity Authority and providing employment to 6000 people directly/indirectly.

As the decision has halted the progress of Safa tempos, the image of the government is now under question mark as popular opinion is highly in favor of the non-smoking and noiseless electric three-wheelers.