15 hurt as protesters clash with cops

Kathmandu, December 22:

The government today invited the Tribhuwan International Airport Victims’ Struggle Committee for talks.

The committee is out in the streets for the past two days demanding adequate compensation for plots of land the government plans to use.

“We have invited the struggle committee for talks with a view to settling the problem concerning land compensation,” a government official said.

Earlier in the day, the committee had blocked the Golden Gate of the TIA barring passengers and individuals from entering or leaving the gate, said Min Raj Upadhyay, general manager of TIA.

The committee members blocked the gate from 10.45 am to 1.30 pm, he said. The protesters were forced to halt their activities after the police intervened and fired teargas shells to disperse the protesters.

The committee’s protest was triggered by the failure of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) to provide compensation to the owners of 432 ropanis in KMC Ward No 35. CAAN has barred the land owners to either sell or alter the built structures for the past 12 years with a view to expanding the airport.

“We had to call the police since the situation was getting out of hand and the protesters’ activities were adversely affecting the passenger movement and regular activities at the airport,” said Upadhyay.

A CAAN source said the protesters pelted the Airport Development Project at Sinamangal with stones and smashed some windowpanes.

Fifteen persons were injured, two seriously, when the police teargassed and baton-charged the protesters. The police also fired rubber bullets to disperse some 3,000 protestors.

Sixty-year-old Gopal Bahadur Thapa had his legs fractured, while Sudarshan Lamichhane sustained head injuries in the clash between the police and the protestors at the TIA gate, Nawaraj Bista, the joint-coordinator of the struggle committee told this daily.

Flights at the TIA were delayed for over two hours due to the protest programme.

A panel was formed today under the coordination of Yagya Prasad Gautam, the newly appointed director general of CAAN, to negotiate with the victims, the Tourism Ministry said.

The nine-member team consists of officials of CAAN, Tourism Ministry, Finance Ministry and National Planning Commission.

“We are willing to negotiate with the panel, but our protests will continue until our demand for adequate compensation is met,” Bista said.