Airport construction in limbo due to lack of ownership of land

The construction of the airport proposed to be rebuilt at Majhgaun in Kanchanpur district has not made any headway in not being able to acquire ownership of the land.

The proposed site of the Airport has Ratna Garden to its south and the Nepali Army's barrack guarding the Shuklaphanta National Park. Unable to acquire the land for the airport, the construction work is in limbo for years.

The Airport's proposed runway is 1,525 meters in length. At present, it only has 1,000 meters. Since the ownership of the additional land needed for the Airport is not in the name of the Airport at present, the construction work has been stalled, said Airport Project, Chief Minraj Ojha.

Ojha added that the Nepali Army took the workers trying to work on the land owned by the Army into their control which affected the construction work.

Coordination should be made with three ministries to forward the process to get ownership of the land owned by the Army, he shared. "Land ownership related issue is under process, he informed.

The agreement was made to provide necessary pieces of land owned by the Nepali Army for the construction of the Airport. Although the land is mentioned to be segregated for the airport in the Nepal gazette, the land ownership certificate still belongs to the Nepali Army.

A member of the House of Representatives elected from Kanchanpur-3 Ramesh Lekhak shared that efforts were underway to take forward Airport construction works. "Land acquisition certainly process delayed the construction works but it will be resolved soon," he assured.

Airport Reconstruction Struggle Committee management coordinator Karan Pal spoke of the need to operate the Airport as the earliest. Bhimdutta Municipality will have 15 percent, Dodhara Chandani Municipality 30 percent, Sudurpaschim Government 25 percent, and the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal 50 percent for the construction of the Airport.

A contract worth Rs 456.6 has been awarded to Kancharam-KS-Uma and Company to build the Airport within three years.

The Airport was in operation from 2034 BS to 2057 BS and was shut down during the emergency period showing security concerns.