PANCHTHAR: Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai, on Thursday, said the construction of Aathrai airport in Tehrathum district would be accelerated and completed within three years.

The process to construct the airport, located at Thumkidanda of Aathrai Rural Municipality in the district, had begun 41 years ago and then stalled. Minister Bhattarai expressed his commitment to take the works of airport construction forward and complete it within the span of three years.

Minister Bhattarai, who arrived on Thursday to inspect the construction site, also met with the locals. He said, the process of detailed project report (DPR) for the construction of the airport along with a preliminary environmental impact assessment has already begun with the aim to complete all preliminary processes within six months.

On February 27, 2019, the then Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Rabindra Adhikari, had lost his life in a chopper crash while returning from the same place after conducting a feasibility study for the airport. Minister Bhattarai stressed that it is all the more important to complete the airport construction, so as to honour the memory of the late minister.

Minister Bhattarai had arrived at the site in a Nepal Army helicopter and was accompanied by the Director-General of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), Rajan Pokhrel, and other technicians.

(Translated by Madhavi Marasini)