The govt must start building NIA after analysing its overall economic prospects
As ordered earlier by the Supreme Court, an 11-member expert committee, formed by the government in August and headed by Birendra Bahadur Deuja regarding the construction of Nijgadh International Airport (NIA), submitted its study report to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deubaon Sunday, suggesting that about 4,000 hectares of land lying between the Pasaha River and Bakia River in Bara can be used to construct the NIA. An area totaling around 9,000 hectares of land can be occupied, but only 4,000 hectares of land should be used to build the airport. The government is also constructing the Kathmandu-Tarai Expressway, or fast-track, to connect the proposed airport, which, as per the expert panel, will be more economical in terms of reduced distance, fuel consumption and carbon emission. In its mandamus order issued on June 22, the Supreme Court had quashed the government decision to construct the airport at the proposed site, citing serious environmental consequences. The court had also ordered to find an alternative to the proposed location. The majority justices (3-2) had ordered the government to build the airport with minimum environmental damage but failed to specify where such an airport should be built. The expert panel has suggested that the remaining area - around 5,000 hectares - should be used for river erosion prevention and other necessary conservation works by the airport management.
The panel has said trees should be felled on only about 1,500 hectare of the area in the first phase, and additional trees should not be cut in the remaining areas until the beginning of the second phase. It has also suggested that construction of the airport should commence only after completing the legal procedures and obtaining approval to prepare an Environment Management Plan to monitor the possible adverse impact in the area, which is located close to the Parsa Wildlife Reserve, a major route of the wild elephants. It is yet to be seen how the government will maintain a balance between environment and development needs while building the NIA, which is expected to serve as an alternative to Tribhuvan International Airport, which has reached its saturation point.
The major concern is to protect the biodiversity of the surrounding areas where the wild elephants and one-horned rhinos roam. The report has stated that after the construction and operation of the NIA, the proposed Himalay-2 route (Kathmandu-Guwahati-Kunming) and L-626 (Kathmandu-Mahendranagar-Delhi) can be made for two-way international flights to Europe, the Middle East and East Asia Pacific region, and it will be more economical. By the time the NIA comes into operation, which will take decades to turn the dream into reality, Nepal will already have four international airports within a radius of 200 kilometers. Viability of all the airports largely depends on the country's economic activities. Therefore, the government should start building the NIA only after analysing its economic prospects; otherwise it might turn into a white elephant. Given the ongoing economic scenario where the government has failed to boost its exports and attract FDIas well as foreign tourists somewhere close one million every year, it is unlikely that the NIA would develop as a regional hub as has been envisaged.
1 M tons of waste
As much as a million tons of garbage are produced in the country every year by residential areas, businesses, industries, and educational and health sectors. The figure was arrived at by the Central Bureau of Statistics, which had conducted a survey on waste production, collection and management in 2019. This figure will only grow in the years to come as the population, businesses and industries increase. Kathmandu alone generates close to a thousand tons of garbage a day, or more than a third of all the refuse produced in the country. But managing the waste is becoming a horrendous problem not only for the capital but for all the urban centres across the country.
It has thus become necessary to have a waste disposal management system in place before any settlement is declared a municipality. Dumping waste in the nearby forests or into rivers is no way to solve the problem. Since plastics account for the major portion of all the waste generated in the country, a comprehensive plan to reduce its use has become necessary and not just pay lip service to it. Recycling and reusing plastics and other recyclable materials should now be promoted like a campaign.
A version of this article appears in the print on September 20, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
