Kudos to the TIA officials who helped save life of 150 passengers and crew members of an NAC airlines that crash landed due to bursting of a rear tyre while landing at the only international airport on Tuesday.

Fortunately, the incident of Airbus A320 jet did not cause any injuries to any passengers and crew members due to prompt response from the ground and ATC officials who warned the pilot about the bursting of the tyre that forced the aircraft to skid from the runway.

The pilot of the aircraft also deserves thanks for miraculously saving the passengers. This is not the first time that such incident has happened in Nepal’s airport.

Aviation experts said that the tyre had been retreated thrice and it had already worn out its strength. Poor maintenance of the aircraft often causes big accident.

NAC has earned notoriety for its mismanagement of the airlines which has been reduced to an institution with a couple of aircraft that most of the time remain grounded.

The national flag carrier had bought the Airbus A320 just two years ago but it has been facing technical problem due to negligence in carrying out regular maintenance and replacement of spare parts.

In order to regain its reputation and confidence of the passengers NAC has to enhance its management skill, carry out regular maintenance of its fleet of aircraft and expand its flights to other destinations.

One of the prerequisites to win confidence of the passengers is to control corruption within NAC.

Saroj Wagle, Bara

Clarification

We write in reference to the news story “Bhutanese refugees asked to decide on repatriation” (THT, September 14, Page 5). The quotes attributed to Mr. Allen in the article were inaccurate.

As such, we would like to clarify statements made by Mr. Allen and the views of UNHCR Nepal in the context of the draw-down of the resettlement programme for refugees from Bhutan.

Nepal has generously hosted Bhutanese refugees for over two decades and the international community has shown extraordinary solidarity in addressing their plight by resettling over 105,000 refugees over a 10 year period.

By the conclusion of the refugee programme at the end of 2016, 90% of the population residing in the camps in Morang and Jhapa districts will have been resettled and 10,000 will continue to remain in the camps.

With the end of the resettlement chapter, in 2017, UNHCR Nepal will focus its efforts on facilitating dialogue between Bhutan and Nepal to achieve alternative solutions for the remaining refugees; specifically exploring local solutions as well as voluntary repatriation to Bhutan.

In the context of unprecedented high numbers of displaced persons fleeing conflicts in countries such as Syria and Iraq, UNHCR has a responsibility to alleviate suffering and find solutions for those fleeing human rights abuse around the world.

Thus, while the resettlement programme is drawing to a close, we will continue to engage in dialogue with both the Governments of Nepal and Bhutan in order to assist refugees in Nepal; simultaneously exploring local avenues for solutions as well as all possibilities for voluntary repatriation.

Deepesh Das Shrestha, UNHCR