ENVIRONMENT BULLETIN-NEPAL: Electric Cab May Answer Pollution Problems

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Meena Menon

KATHMANDU, May 2 1998 (IPS) - That noiseless, electrically-driven, three-wheeler taxi, whizzing by on Kathmandu’s busy streets, may just be the answer to Nepal’s vehicular pollution problems.

Visitors to this Himalayan capital find their morning view of the distant snow-clad peaks obscured by rising pall of fumes spewed out by some 110,000 vehicles and drivers wearing white masks to protect themselves from it.

A sharp increase in the number of two and three-wheelers, powered either by the efficient but dirty, two-stroke or diesel engines are chiefly responsible for the high-level of pollution in the city, say exeprts.

Of the 110,000 vehicles in Kathmandu, roughly 50 per cent are two-wheelers. Another 5,000 three-wheelers or ‘tempos’ ply the streets as cheap, shared-taxis or as goods transporters.

A new fleet of 50 electric vehicles, built by the Nepal Electric Vehicle Industry (NEVI), now offers Kathmandu residents the first ‘breathing space’ they have had in years.

According to Bijaya Man Sherchan, managing director of government-run NEVI, the new vehicles, run on batteries charged on hydroelectric power during off-peak hours, are being promoted as an answer to the city’s pollution problems. “These vehicles will reduce dependency on expensive imported fossil fuels,” he said.

Since establishment in 1995, NEVI has promoted electrically-run vehicles as appropriate for Nepal, a country with abundant ‘hydel’ power which is a non-polluting and renewable source of energy. So far, NEVI has 12 and eight seater tempo prototypes for the popular shared-taxi services. It now also has plans for a four- wheeler as well.

“Electric vehicles do not emit harmful pollutants and also offer passengers a comfortable, vibratin-free and noiseless ride,” Sherchan said.

Besides, he said, the vehicles are cost effective and easier to operate because they have fewer controls. All they have are forward and reverse switches. The DC motors have a life span of 30 years and unlike internal combustion engines require little maintenance. Once fully charged, the batteries last for up to 70 hours of operation.

According to Sherchan, each electricaly powered tempo costs around 6,000 dollars while existing diesel three-wheelers can be converted into electric powered ones for about half that amount.

NEVI has plans to convert all the existing, eleven-seater, 1,500 ‘Vikram’ three-wheelers running on Kathmandu to electric power.

Manufactured in India, where pollution norms are lax, Vikrams are considered the most polluting vehicles around and their import have been banned along with all other non-electric three- wheelers. NEVI’s plans have found backing from the Danish government which has pledged the creation of a fund to provide soft-loans to Vikram owners to induce them to go in for conversion.

The Danish aid agency, DANIDA has committed 50,000 dollars as part of a revolving fund to electrify the vehicles, Sherchan said.

NEVI itself operates a fleet of 15 electric three-wheelers to demonstrate the technology and the viability of the project and for good measure the government has banned, since 1992, imports of all three wheelers – whether diesel or petrol driven.

The government has also removed customs duty on electric components, imported from the United States. Such moves by the government have, however, been opposed by operators who own the older type of vehicles and have even formed an association to protect their interests.

“Everyone knows that electric vehicles are the answer to Kathmandu’s pollution problems,” Sherhchan said, adding that although emission tests are mandatory, tempo operators are adept at obtaining false certificates.

However, he expects support from a new association of operators who ply electrically-powered vehicles and is confident that market forces would take care of the rest.

According to a report by ‘URBAIR’ under the World Bank- executed Metropolitan Environment Improvement Programme (MEIP), Kathmandu valley’s population grew by 26 percent from 1970 to 1980 and another 44 percent during the following decade.

In 1992, the population stood at 1,060,000 of which 56 percent was urban. The growth in population was accompanied by a doubling in the number of vehices in the past decade and by 1993 there were an estimated 67,000 registered vehicles on the roads.

Atmospheric data from Kathmandu’s airport analysed from 1970 onwards show substanial decrease in visibility in the valley since 1980 mainly because of suspended particulate matter from brick kilns as well as vehicle exhaust.

Measures to reduce air pollution in Kathmandu focus on traffic and the URBAIR report has recommended improvements in the mass transit system which consists presently of electrically- driven trolley buses. But the saving grace is the growth in awareness of the hazards posed by pollution – one sign being the introduction of laws against pollution where none existed before 1994.