The High Court, Tulsipur Butwal Bench has issued an injunction for the operation of electric buses and vans that have been stalled for four and a half years in Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, within a month. Showing legal difficulty, Lumbini Development Fund and Transport Management Office, Butwal provided 5 buses with a capacity of 19 seats and 14 vans with a capacity of 5 seats, which were provided free of cost by the donor in November 2077.

The charging station with solar panels built at a cost of 130.9 million rupees to charge buses and vans has also fallen into disrepair after the bus has stopped operating. The air-conditioned, attractive, convenient and disabled-friendly bus-van brought for tourists coming to Lumbini via Gautam Buddha International Airport and Belhia at Sunauli Pass has been stuck for four and a half years due to lack of operation for a long time.

Buses and vans are starting to look old and dirty while being kept in the parking lot . 19 electric vehicles were provided to the Lumbini Development Fund at a cost of more than three million rupees through the clean energy project with the support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on November 9, 2077, in order to connect Buddha's birthplace Lumbini and Buddha's place Tilaurakot, Ramgram, Devdah, etc. The bus-van provided by the

project through the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation of the Federal Government came with government (white) number plates. Lumbini Development Fund was forced to operate buses and vans free of charge after being registered on white number plates. But since the operating cost is high and the management fund is not able to manage it, the effort to make it green by changing the number plates of both buses and vans started .

After a long process and efforts, on 6th June 2081, the cabinet meeting of the provincial government decided to make the number plates of buses and vans green and operate them as tourist buses, although the transport management department of Lumbini province instructed Lumbini province to make the number plates green in the federal law.

Tourism professionals and stakeholders are optimistic that electric buses and vans will be operated after the court order. Meghnath Acharya, a member of the Lumbini Bachau Sangharsh Samiti, said that by keeping the subsidized vehicles brought by the Lumbini Development Fund to serve the people in the open square, it is a work to damage the property of the state.

After showing indifference from the state in the operation of vehicles which came free of charge with the help of donors for the convenience of tourists, Acharya approached the High Court demanding an order for operation. Hearing his writ, the High Court Tulsipur Butwal bench ordered on Chait 11 to complete the necessary process within one month and change the number plate and arrange the vehicle operation.

"Although the Lumbini Development Fund had prepared a draft report and procedure in 2079, the vehicles were stuck because the number plates had not been changed," Acharya said, "With the High Court's order forcing the fund to prepare standards and the Transport Office to change the number plates, we have increased hope that the tourist bus will run."

A mandate has been issued to convert those stranded vehicles into green number plates and operate them for tourism purposes within one month.

Lumbini Provincial Government, Ministry of Transport Management, Lumbini Development Fund, Transport Management Office Butwal and District Administration Office Rupandehi were also registered as opponents.

According to Akram Khan, the coordinator of the Lumbini Save Campaign, he had to go to court because the Transport Management Office, Butwal did not implement the number plates as per the consent of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, the decision of the Lumbini Provincial Government and the instructions of the Public Accounts Committee. ``Now tourist buses operate in Lumbini,'' he said, ``Now we are also putting pressure on the Lumbini Development Fund to make a management modality for the operation of those vehicles.'' With the help of ADB, a charging station connected with solar panels has also been constructed in Lumbini at a cost of 130.9 million rupees. But since the vehicle itself is not operational, the charging station is also stuck .

Tires and batteries of some vehicles that have been stored after being unused and not charged regularly have deteriorated. Dhundiraj (Siddhicharan) Bhattarai, treasurer of Lumbini Development Fund, said that since the court has issued a mandate by specifying a clear legal basis and time limit, now the way for the operation of electric vehicles for Lumbini is open.

"We have prepared a draft of the modality of operation, now we will finalize it immediately and pass it in the meeting of the board of directors," he said. Now tourist vehicles will be running soon.

He said that vehicles with white plates cannot be used for purposes other than government work and it took four years to turn the white plates green. Air-conditioned, disabled-friendly and automatic-door buses and vans also have card-based fare payment facilities. It is claimed that it can travel up to 400 kilometers after charging once.

Khumlal Bhusal, Head of Transport Management Office, Butwal, said that the letter from the court has received the order and the information has been sent to the ministry. "The mandate has been issued specifying the section of the law and the date, so now we will change the number plate and register it within the specified time," he said, "However, since the regulatory body is the ministry, we have sent an information letter."

Bus operation with donation box

After four and a half years tourism bus could not run in Lumbini due to legal hurdles, government buses have been operating by keeping a 'donation box'. Government vehicles cannot carry passengers and collect fares. But for the convenience of tourists coming to Lumbini, after the 19 vehicles given by the donor were stalled for a long time due to legal difficulties, the Lumbini Development Fund started operating the bus with a donation box. The fund has been operating the last two buses out of five buses with a capacity of 19 seats since last December.