The blue-bodied Vikram tempos, imported from India, had been visible across the roads of Kathmandu for long. The dark fumes emitted by the tempos made it easy for people to point a finger at them. They, however, continue to pollute many Indian tourist destinations.

It's just the beginning: From the first day of the next millennium, the government has decided to enforce Nepal 2001, the Nepali version of Euro-I emission norms. In the small step of the neighbouring capital lies a big lesson for India's polluted cities where three-wheelers leave an endless trail of smoke and an unsolved problem of pollution.

``We're determined to carry these measures through,'' says Nepal's Minister of State for Environment and Population Bhakta Bahadur Balayar. ``The term `Goodbye Shangrila' will be a thing ofthe past. We're committed to making Kathmandu the most livable place in South Asia.''

In the last decade, pollution has gone up so much that tourists try to avoid Kathmandu and surveys show a marked deterioration in children's health.

Of more than 200,000 vehicles registered across Nepal, 60 per cent are concentrated in Kathmandu. Reports say the city's air quality is beyond World Health Organization's permissible limits.

The removal of three-wheelers, the first step in the government's plan to phase out polluting vehicles by July 2000, has been welcomed by residents.

The government has now begun the process of banning the import and registration of two-stroke motorbikes around the country. Tractors and power trailers will also be prohibited from operating in the city's core areas.

``Vehicles of all types, failing to meet Euro-I standards, will not be registered from January 1, 2001,'' says Shushil Agrawal, Deputy Director General of Department of Transport Management.

Euro-I vehicles -- astandard introduced to reduce vehicular emission in Europe in the early nineties -- emit reduced amounts of toxic pollutants. India is committed to Euro-II, a stricter norm, from April 1, 2000.

In the absence of the Vikrams, battery-powered and Liquefied Petroleum Gas-operated three-wheelers, more then 300 of which are on the road, are fulfilling the needs of Kathmandu's commuters in addition to the 1,507 buses and 1,300 mini buses servicing the capital.

The white, battery-run electric vehicles, popularly called SAFA (Clean) tempos, and their green-and-yellow gas counterparts, called Tuk Tuks that boast of zero tail-pipe emission and have become a familiar sight in the city's core areas.

The Nepal government has also decided to waive 99 percent custom duties and VAT on the import of non-polluting 10-14-seater micro buses.The government is bringing in more electric vehicles while increasing the frequency of existing bus services.

Businesses have been quick to cash in on the environment-friendlydevelopment. Kathmandu Tuk Tuk Pvt Ltd., a company which has been selling gas tempos for the past four years, announced a package -- to buy old Vikram tempos from owners and sell them Tuk Tuks after deducting the cost.

The company also hopes to encourage licensed drivers to buy Tuk Tuks in installments after paying 30 per cent of the cost. SAFA, within the last month has added 50 tempos to its existing fleet of 178 electric vehicles. It is training displaced Vikram tempo drivers to operate SAFAs.

``SAFA is a viable alternative in terms of environment-friendly technology. Even India has been looking at the Nepal example,'' says SAFA founder president Narayan Sharma. Mahindra and Mahindra will be introducing its version of SAFA tempo in Kathmandu within the month.

Environmentalists point out the long-term effects of LPG and battery-operated vehicles. ``The damage caused by the leakage of batteries and gas might not be obvious in the short run, but both can have devastating effects on the environment ifnot treated carefully,'' warns Dr Toran Sharma, Managing Director of Nepal Environment Scientific Services (NESS).

``We're okay for three years. But we realise that we'll soon require a safe dumping site or a recycling plant,'' acknowledges Narayan Sharma.

The government's cleaning act includes looking at legislation that would make polluters pay for polluting the environment, finding a suitable site for the disposal or recycling of used batteries, auctioning off old, polluting government vehicles to scrap dealers, and fixing a standard for the monitoring of LPG tempos.

As a last resort, it has allowed old Vikrams to be registered in other parts of Nepal except in the tourist towns of Pokhara and Lumbini. Following frequent public protests, the government nine years ago stopped the import of three-wheelers from India. Among the ones which were operating, a majority repeatedly failed the vehicular emission test started in 1995.