Electric vehicles that were waiting for a green signal for operation for the past three years here have come into operation from today. The Lumbini Development Trust (LDT) took an initiative to run the vehicles for a trial for at least 15 days.

LDT Vice Chair Awadhesh Kumar Tripathi, Chief District Officer Bharatmani Pandey and LDT Treasurer Siddhicharan Bhattarai jointly inaugurated the service amidst a program here today. Five electric buses are to provide services along the Lumbini Airport, Belhiya-Ramgram, Airport-Golpark, Lumbini-Tilaurakot site circuit, Airport-Manigram-Devdaha routes and the shuttle service around Lumbini.

The Hotel Association, Nepali Army, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and LDT have each managed a driver for the buses. The trial period of the service will be at least for 15 days and then it will be formally launched.

The vehicles were brought here with the support of the Asian Development Bank and they remained non-operational in the absence of a modality for operation. Despite the preparations for launching the service bearing in mind the Dashain festival, the LDT has yet to come up with a sustainable working procedure to operate the service.

Earlier, Home Minister Balkrishna Khand on the occasion of the World Tourism Day instructed the authorities concerned to launch the service promptly.