Kathmandu, January 15:

Electric Vehicle Association of Nepal (EVAN) has ‘temporarily’ halted its protest programme after it got a written commitment from the Prime Minister today to fulfil its demands.

“Prime Minister has committed us that he will fulfil our demands,” confirmed Vijay Man Sherchan, president of EVAN. “We have stopped the protest programmes for the time being but if the commitments are not fulfilled, EVAN will be moving ahead with more serious protest programmes,” he added.

According to Sherchan, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has asked Ministry of Water Resource about an alternative for the charging stations.

The PMO has asked

the ministry whether it is appropriate to provide them space at the trolley bus station, Balaju Industrial District, Patan Industrial District or Bhrikuti Mandap. The PMO has also written letter for extension of the loan payment duration taken by Safa tempo owners to the authorised bodies.

The Electric Vehicles (EVs) — popularly known as Safa Tempos in the Valley — have been providing service to 1.25 lakh Valley denizens daily. But they were forced to go on strike due to increased load-shedding hours that have directly hit them.

According to EVAN, due to increasing hours of load shedding, they were unable to charge batteries that need 18 hour uninterrupted power supply to be fully charged.

The Safa tempos have an investment of Rs 500 million and provided employment — directly and indirectly — to 10,000 people. There are 700 Safa tempos plying on the Valley roads.