Nijgadh airport necessary for nation’s advancement: Report

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.