Airport city not necessary in Nijgadh: House panel

Kathmandu / Dec 19: National Concern and Coordination Committee of the Parliament concluded that there is no need of airport city around the proposed second international airport in Nijgadh, Bara.

A committee formed under National Concern and Coordination Committee Chairman Dil Kumari Rawal prepared the report by carrying out a filed study.

The committee submitted a report to the Chairman of National Assembly Ganesh Timilsena with the conclusion that the tress around the airport should not be chopped down to make the airport city.

After carrying out field monitoring of the second international airport in Nijgadh and holding discussions with concerned stakeholders, the House panel also directed the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to protect the land allocated for the construction of airport city in the name of the project.

“If the municipalities and rural municipalities around the airport are managed and made advanced then there will be no need for an airport city,” the House panel said in its directive, adding, “The land allocated for the airport city should be protected in the name of the project and can be used in the future if needed.”

Similarly, the committee has also directed the government to complete the construction of the airport within the given timeframe and should be not delayed under any circumstances.

The Committee has directed the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) of the project and to approve it within the current fiscal year.

The committee has also directed the ministry that the compensatory plantation of trees should be done with strict enforcement in the places where trees are felled for the development of the second international airport in Nijgadh.

The airport will not only promote tourism and boost economic development but will also promote the image of Nepal at the international level.

The airport will be developed in three phases. The first phase, as per the detailed feasibility study (DFS) of the project, will be of 10 years; the second phase will be of 5 years, and the third or final phase will be of 25 years.

The project envisions building a modern airport in Nijgadh of Bara district, 175 km from Kathmandu in the southern plains.

The hub will be the biggest in South Asia in terms of area, covering 8,045.79 hectares once it is completed. More than 2.4 million small and large trees will have to be chopped down to build the swanky airport. Source: Ekantipur