Kathmandu, December 21:

The inhabitants of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-35 today locked the office of Civil Aviation Authority Nepal (CAAN) with all the staffers inside from 10 am to 5 pm demanding to either revoke the ban on land transaction or to provide compensation for the land. The locals also warned the authority that they would continue their protest until their demands were fulfilled. Tomorrow they will stage a protest in front of the Golden Gate at the TIA.

The government had acquired 432 ropanis belonging to some 1,200 households for CAAN in 1995. Babu Krishna KC, a local said that the government had assured to pay Rs 850,000 and Rs 560,000 per ana of land at the main road and the inner areas, respectively. “However, there has been no evaluation of our houses for compensation,” said KC.

Prem Raj Lohani, Planning Chief of CAAN said, “CAAN is only an executive body and that it needs land for airport safety and security but it is the government which is responsible to provide compensation for acquiring land.”