October 25: Sajha Yatayat has been found operating electric buses in Kathmandu Valley which were actually provided for Lumbini without taking permission from the Lumbini Development Trust.

Asian Development Bank had gifted the buses to the Lumbini Development Trust to operate services from the under-construction Gautam Buddha Airport to Lumbini. It is been learnt that the Chinese automobile manufacturer BYD Co Ltd manipulated the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to run the buses in Kathmandu under the management of Sajha Yatayat arguing that there is no point in taking the buses to Lumbini right away when the Gautam Buddha Airport is still under construction.

Sajha Yatayat and BYD Co Ltd had reportedly lobbied with the ministry for operating the buses in Kathmandu after realising that it would be more profitable to run the buses in Kathmandu than in Lumbini. However, the ministry’s Joint Secretary Nita Aryal said she is totally unaware about the operation of buses under Sajha Yatayat. She claimed that the ministry has neither corresponded with Sajha Yatayat nor Lumbini Development Trust regarding this issue.

The trust has accused that Sajha Yatayat and BYD operated the bus in Kathmandu with the help of the prime minister without signing any agreement with the trust.

Acting Member Secretary of the trust Saroj Bhattarai said the trust has not made any decision to give the buses to Sajha Yatayat. Though three buses are to be operated under the management of Sajha Yatayat until the airport comes into the operation, the trust had proposed to operate the buses on the route of Kathmandu- Lumbini, Pokhara-Lumbini and Narayangadh- Lumbini. The remaining two buses were to be operated around the Buddhist shrines around Lumbini.