The threat comes in the wake of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the sole power utility in the country, enforcing 16-hours a day load shedding since Sunday. Operators of electric vehicles, mainly three-wheelers, in Kathmandu complain that the power supply is not adequate for recharging their batteries, and because of this their business worth billions is virtually at the point of closure.
Umesh Raj Shrestha, president of Clean Locomotive Entrepreneurs of Nepal (CLEN), alleged that the authorities concerned have so far failed to pay any heed to their demand for an alternative power supply arrangement. “We are now compelled to take to the streets since our business has been badly hit,” he said.
CLEN is one of three affiliates of EVAN and has some 700 three-wheelers operating in Kathmandu Valley. Among other things, prolonged load shedding hours have put the jobs of some 10,000 people at risk and threatens to land their dependants in the lurch, according to CLEN.
Electric vehicles in protest rally on Monday.Bijay Rai
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Shrestha said they would stage a chakka-jam in front of the NEA office at Ratna Park for one hour every day from 10 am starting Thursday and gradually increase the chakka-jam duration in the coming days. “We will be forced to unveil a series of protest activities if the government continues to show apathy to our demands,” he added.
He said a tempo, or motorized three-wheeler, generally makes 10 trips a day on Valley routes if both its batteries are fully charged. “We have not been able to make even four trips a day due to prolonged power outage,” he said. “Our business has now virtually collapsed as we are not even breaking even.”
On Monday, EVAN submitted a memorandum to NEA, the Ministry of Water Resources, the Home Ministry, the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management to draw their attention to the problem. They also organized a protest rally with their tempos from Bhadrakali to Ratna Park.
Among other things, EVAN has asked the government to provide space at Balaju and Patan industrial estates, the trolley bus garage at Minbhawan and also in the Bhrikuti Mandap area for setting up recharge centers, provide an additional three-months´ time for battery recharge stations to pay their electricity bills and also exempt interest on loans taken by clean tempo operators for at least three months as business has virtually collapsed.
While there is still continuous power supply at the trolley bus garage, the government has arranged minimum power outage in the industrial estates through alternative feeders. According to EVAN, there are altogether 32 battery charging stations in various parts of Kathmandu Valley.
Bijaya Man Sherchan, president of EVAN, said prospects for electric vehicles in Nepal were bleak due to lack planning on the part of the government. “We had a dream of saving money spent on fossil fuels by using our own electricity, and also of saving our environment,” said Sherchan, who first introduced the idea of electric vehicles in Nepal. “But this environment-friendly venture is now on the verge of collapse.”
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