Kathmandu, May 10

A high-level meeting held at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) today has decided to table a proposal at the Cabinet to cut down trees to construct the periphery-road of Nijgadh International Airport (NIA). However, the proposal will be tabled by the Ministry of Forests and Environment. The meeting chaired by Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai took a decision to this effect today.

A study conducted by the Sector Forest Office under the forest ministry located at Nijgadh has revealed that a total of 4,232 trees need to be cut down for the construction of the periphery-road. Following the study, the meeting has decided that the forest ministry will table the proposal immediately at the Cabinet to get approval for cutting down the trees. The meeting has further taken a decision to begin numbering of trees and electricity poles that need to be removed for the site clearance of the airport.

The meeting has also directed the taskforce that was formed on January 16 to submit a progress report of NIA within 10 days. The taskforce was established to study the ongoing progress of NIA and comprises representatives of the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation along with national pride project chief

of MoCTCA.

Likewise, the meeting has also decided to begin the works as mentioned in the memorandum signed between the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) and Nepali Army for construction of link road and to fell the trees. Meanwhile, the meeting has recommended the Investment Board Nepal to seek a proposal based on public-private partnership model from Zurich International Airport for construction of the airport and to sign the agreement with Zurich airport at the earliest.

It was also decided today that CAAN will complete the process to prepare the masterplan for the NIA as soon as possible. A coordination committee led by the tourism minister was formed on April 24, 2018 for the construction of the NIA. This is the fifth meeting of this committee.

The government has a plan to build NIA as an international transit hub for around 22 countries that are located close to Nepal and expects the airport to handle around 15 million air passengers annually. NIA has also been considered as an alternative to address the increasing air congestion at Tribhuvan International Airport. The NIA is also expected to play a huge role in the development of the overall economy of the country.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on May 11, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.