Kathmandu, Sept. 1
The
expert group formed by the government to look into the issue of the
construction of the international airport has concluded that an international
airport with full capacity to handle the growing air traffic is necessary for
Nepal's far-reaching development and economic prosperity.
The
group’s coordinator Birendra Bahadur Deuja handed over its report to Prime
Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Sunday in the presence of Culture, Tourism and
Civil Aviation Minister Jeevan Ram Shrestha.
According
to the report, a suitable location for a full-capacity international airport is
an area between Pasaha and Bakaiya rivers.
About
4,000 hectares of the total area of about 9,000 hactares, area between the two
rivers which is connected to the Kathmandu-Tarai Expressway and the East-West
Highway is suitable for the large aviation infrastructure, the report
concluded.
The
expert group has suggested that the airport city concept should be completely
abandoned keeping in mind the Supreme Court's order to reduce the number of trees
being cut and prevent the environmental damage.
The
study report was prepared by the expert group formed as per the decision of the
Cabinet, following a mandamus of the Supreme Court in the name of the
government, in August this year to study and submit a report for the construction
of a full capacity international airport.
The
report has suggested to declare an airport protection area of about 9,000
hectares and construct the airport in different stages.
“In
total, only about 4,000 hectares area should be used for the construction of
the airport and trees should be protected in the rest of the area while river
erosion prevention and other necessary protection works should be done by the
airport management,” read the report.
Likewise,
the group has recommended that in the first phase, trees in only about 1,500
hectares should be felled and the rest of the trees should not be cut until the
second phase starts.
It
is mentioned in the report that the construction of the airport should be done
after completing the legal procedures and obtaining necessary approvals in
order to prepare an environmental management plan so as to avert adverse impact
on the environment.
“The
necessary land for the construction of a full capacity international airport
should be obtained and the affected stakeholders should be compensated and
rehabilitated according to the law,” maintained the report.
There
is a major biological route of elephants within the extended area of Parsa National
Park, but the area where some elephants come to roam near is outside the
construction site, so the government can protect that area as well. Similarly,
the group did not find route of eagles and vultures near the proposed airport
construction site and the presence of endangered vultures of Nepal is also low
in the area.
After
the construction and operation of a full-capacity international airport, the
proposed Himalaya-2 route (Kathmandu-Guwahati-Kunming) and L-626
(Kathmandu-Mahendranagar-Delhi) that fly over Nepal’s airspace could be made
two-way. This will significantly reduce the distance, time, fuel consumption
and carbon emissions while flying to Europe, Middle East, and East Asia Pacific
region.
The
expert group has also suggested that the delay in the construction of a
full-capacity international airport will make the infrastructure more expensive
and complicated which in the long run will delay the return from the project. Therefore,
it has suggested the government to form a powerful development institution to
construct it quickly in a time-bound manner.
Accepting
the report, PM Deuba said that the construction of the airport should not be
delayed. Likewise, Minister Shrestha said that his ministry would proceed the
work according to the report given by the expert group and pledged to begin the
work at the earliest.
Other
members of the group are economist Rameshwore Khanal, development planning
expert Dr. Surya Raj Acharya, urban development expert Prof. Dr. Sangita Singh,
wildlife and environment expert Prof. Dr. Prem Bahadur Budha, plant and
environment expert Prof. Dr. Suresh
Kumar Ghimire, sociologist Lachhi Singh, senior pilot Krishna Vikram Poudel, senior
advocate Dr. Chandra Kant Gyawali and air route expert Mahesh Kumar Basnet.
The
Nijgadh International Airport was in discussion for several years in the past
and the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report of the project was
approved by the Ministry of Forestry and Environment in 2018 and the Civil
Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Nepal
Army to clear the forest, and construct access road and periphery road.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 19 September 2022.
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