Pressure to construct international airport in Pokhara
Pokhara :The travel trade professionals and people from different sector of the society have demanded to start process for construction of international airport in Pokhara immediately.
Local people in Pokhara staged a sit-in at the Pokhara office of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) to pressure the government to begin the process of building an international airport in Pokhara.The locals have also threatened to intensify their agitations if the government fails to pay attention to their demand.
Earlier, a committee formed by the locals to press for the construction of an international airport in Pokhara also sent a memorandum to Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai through the District Administration Office (DAO), Kaski.
Krishna Mohan Shrestha, chairman of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI), Pokhara chapter said, “If our demand is not met, we might go on to disrupt all flights to and from Pokhara and the agitations will continue so long as the airport construction does not begin.”
CAAN authorities are in a fix over construction of an international airport in Pokhara due to stiff resistance from CAAN staff. CAAN employees have already threatened to launch an agitation if the airport construction is not called off. They argue that CAAN cannot afford the cost of the construction.
Earlier, CAAN had estimated the cost of the international airport construction at Rs 12 billion. However, China CMC, which was the lowest bidder in the tender process for the international airport, has proposed Rs 27 billion, and this has prompted CAAN officials to stand against the project.
The government is preparing to take a soft loan from the Export-Import Bank of China to build another international airport for which 3,106 ropanis of land has already been acquired at Chhinedanda, Pokhara.
