Pokhara, August 28

Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Kumar Bhattarai today asked people possessing land ownership certificates near Phewa Lake to return them to the government.

Speaking at a programme organised by Pokhara Tourism Council in Pokhara, Bhattarai said businessmen affected by efforts to preserve the lake will be compensated.

He, however, argued that it was erroneous and unlawful to possess landownership certificates of the lake. “Return the land ownership certificates of the the lake and stop constructing tall buildings on its banks,” Bhattarai said.

A probe committee formed to investigate encroachment of Phewa Lake had found 1,692 ropani land of the lake registered in the names of individuals.

According to the committee, land belonging to Phewa Lake has been registered in the names of more than 1,000 individuals.

Bhattarai also said presenting negative image of the country in international forums would affect the tourism sector. He reminded tourism entrepreneurs not to talk about the sorry state of infrastructure in the country as it would hit the promotion of tourism sector.

Bhattarai said it was not difficult to bring in two million tourists in 2020. “Around 1.2 million tourists have been visiting the country for the past few years. Thus, it is not a big deal to bring in two million tourists in 2020,” Bhattarai said. He informed that modern digitised security system would be installed at the immigration of Tribhuvan International Airport within 90 days. “We will develop digital system to make on arrival visa procedure convenient,” he said.

Meanwhile, Minister Bhattarai made an inspection visit of the under-construction Pokhara Regional International Airport. Taking stock of the under-construction airport, Bhattarai said national pride projects should be completed within the deadline to send out a positive message.

Airport Construction Project Chief Vinesh Munakarmi told Minister Bhattarai that 45 per cent of the construction work had been completed.

“We shall complete the project six months before the deadline if work continues at the same pace,” said Munakarmi.

During inspection visit of the airport construction site, Minister Bhattarai directed representatives of the Chinese Contractor Company CMC to finish the work within the stipulated deadline.

He also urged party leaders, local level representatives and other stakeholders to cooperate for timely completion of the airport.

At the programme, Gandaki Province Minister of Finance Kiran Gurung stressed the need to construct access road to the airport.