Bhairahawa, October 14

Blacktopping work of the under-construction Gautam Buddha International Airport’s runway will start immediately after Dashain, according to project officials.

Acting chief engineer of the project Prabesh Adhikari said 750 metric tonnes of asphalt had been imported from abroad for blacktopping. “A team of workers and technicians from China will start blacktopping the runway after Dashain,” he added. The runway of the airport will be 3,000 metres long. Adhikari said Chinese workers had returned home after completing all the preparations to blacktop the runway a week ago.

Construction work of terminal buildings, water tanks and control towers, among other infrastructure, was underway at the airport. Adhikari said construction work would not stop even during festivals. He informed mediapersons that the Chinese construction company did not grant leave to Nepali workers in a bid to continue work even during festivals.

The Chinese Construction Company Northwest Civil Aviation Airport Construction has changed the management and carried out work in full swing. Nepali workers are constructing the international terminal buildings, runway, administrative buildings and firefighting buildings. The Chinese technical team has been operating roller and other machines. As many as 15 Chinese and 200 Nepali workers have been used for the construction of the airport.

Similarly, a dedicated electric feeder line will also be connected to the airport soon. Adhikari said that 41.40 million rupees were handed over to the Nepal Electricity Authority.

Construction of Gautam Buddha International Airport had started from 15 January  2015 with an estimated cost of Rs 6.22 billion.