Nepal - Kathmandu
The Urban Pathways Implementation Tracker is tracking the Projects Progress
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Country Profile
Kathmandu is the country’s capital and the largest city (population of 1 million), followed by Pokhara, Lalitpur, Bharatpur and Birgunj metropolitan cities (population above 200,000). The Kathmandu valley includes 3 cities – Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur with total area of 570 sq. km. The population of the valley is 2.5 million with annual growth rate of 4.63% (3.5 million unofficial). This represents 9.32% of entire population of country. Some of the initiatives on energy generation/conservation, sustainable transport and waste management in the valley are discussed below. |
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Project Development
The Kathmandu valley includes 3 cities – Kathmandu (the capital city), Lalitpur and Bhaktapur and has the population of 2.5 million with annual growth rate of 4.63% (3.5 million unofficial). Air pollution is the leading cause of death in the valley, including pollution due to fossil-fuel run transport. Air pollution in Kathmandu is very high with average annual PM2.5 levels that are five times higher than WHO guidelines. Also Nepal imports 100% fossil fuels which has many issues including energy security. The Government of Nepal is supporting promotion of electric vehicles in the country through favorable policies and actions. Beside few electric cars and buses, E tuk-tuk named ‘Safa Tempo’, with a seating capacity of max. 11 people is running in the valley. It is considered as an easy and affordable means of public transport which can pass through narrow streets of the city and stops at shorter distances (Shrestha, 2018). |
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Policy Environment Paper: Kathmandu
Urban Policy Paper on "Evaluating the Effect of Policies, Vehicle Attributes and Charging Infrastructure on Electric Vehicles Diffusion in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal" Abstract: This research presents a rigorous study of electric vehicles growth in Kathmandu Valley of Nepal based on the public response to various issues, prospects, and policies related to electrical vehicle growth in Nepal. Two surveys were carried out to take data from the public response to EVs, which are presented and explained in this paper. Study of public response to EV policies, both in current state and in utopian consumer preferred policy states has been carried out and compared in this research. Furthermore, the system dynamics analysis and EV growth projection of same two sets of data obtained from these surveys using two software tools, viz VENSIM-PLE and MATLAB are done and presented herewith. In addition to this, the change in level of CO2 emission with EV growth, their sensitivity analysis to different related variables, etc are also included in this paper. Summing up, this paper shows a projection of EV growth in Kathmandu valley under different policy status and the related effects of EV growth using System Dynamics programming and simulation tools for result validation. |
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Policy Environment Paper: Nepal
This paper aims to identify policy measures in line with the UN’s New Urban Agenda and in the context of the respective Nationally Determined Contributions of Nepal. This paper reviews current developments of Nepal to mitigate and adapt to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, by focusing on the country’s national policies and implementation strategies in keeping with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change (2015). A brief analysis of the Kathmandu Valley’s strategies to accordingly mitigate and adapt is conducted by reviewing the sectors of energy, transport and resource/waste management. |
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Action Plans
"Giving the residents Kamalamai a great sense of security and well-being” The municipality of Kamalamai (Nepal) faces some major issues, including insufficient Solid Waste Management and the lack of street lights in urban areas. Kamalamai municipality is in the process of soliciting technical and financial resources from national and international agencies so that it is able to adequately manage solid waste, install solar street lights and maintain overall city hygiene and general cleanliness – Ashish Gajural, Senior Manager, Project Development and Management, Accelerating Public and Private Investment in Infrastructure Component (APPIIC) Nepal: Nepal and Raju Neupane, Nepals’ department of Urban Development and Building Construction both support the municipality’s call-for-support. Urban Pathways has developed a concept note that has been forwarded to the Kamalamai municipality authority for approval. Options under consideration include the provision of waste collection bins for recycling to be strategically situated in public places of significant citizen and foot-traffic; implementing a waste-to-energy pilot programme; and installation of solar lighting in public places. These projects have the potential to contributed to the UN’s New Urban Agenda and to the Sustainable Development Goals – leapfrogging Kamalamai municipality towards providing better services to its communities in a sustainable and progressive manner. |
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Bankable Project
While the Safa Tempo are providing a valuable service, they need improvements both in terms of their technical performance and their looks and comfort. The Safa Tempo use lead acid batteries which are not very efficient and need to be replaced every year or so. Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries last much longer and give a longer range so that the batteries do not need to be changed mid-way during day as it is currently done. Converting Safa Tempo battery to Li-ion will therefore improve performance as well as profitability and make them more sustainable. Many Safa Tempo owners also want to replace their batteries with Li-ion batteries, but the high upfront cost of Li-ion batteries is holding them back. Furthermore, there is also a need for suitable policies and standards on electric vehicles and charging equipment, as well as local capacity to operate and maintain EVs, to scale up their use. This project is therefore designed to address these issues related to e-mobility by helping improve the performance of Safa Tempos, develop appropriate standards and local capacity to operate and maintain the EVs. |
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