Minister for Urban Development Sita Gurung has urged Tourism Minister Sudan Kiranti to take forward the construction work of Chuhandanda Airport without further delay.
Minister Gurung along with people's representatives from the district complained to Minister for Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, Sudan Kiranti, saying that the construction of the airport has not gained pace despite promises to do so.
Although there have been talks about airport construction since 2032 BS, the airport has not yet been built. An airport survey and feasibility study have been done.
"The file is stuck here in the ministry", Urban Development Minister Gurung said to Minister Kiranti, "The file stalled in the ministry should be moved forward at any cost."
Minister Kiranti was informed that the file of Chuhandanda Airport is stuck in the Aviation Department of the Ministry.
Minister Kiranti replied that the file will be forwarded.
"I am new here in the ministry. I have no idea why it was stopped", Minister Kiranti said, "Files will not be stuck in the ministry anymore. The file will proceed from here tomorrow itself."
Mayor Arjun Mabuhang of Tehrathum's Laligurans Municipality, Dilkumar Pahim, chairman of Atharai Rural Municipality and ward chairpersons participated in the delegation.
On February 27, 2019, then Tourism Minister Rabindra Adhikari had reached the Chuhandanda Airport construction site and expressed his commitment to build the airport. At that time, Minister Adhikari, who was carrying a paper with an estimated cost of Rs 870 million and a sketch of the airport, said – "I have come here after being sent by the Prime Minister (KP Oli). The airport will be built within three years, the door to the prosperity of this place will open."
But after giving an 11-minute speech at Chuhandanda, Minister Adhikari, who flew to visit the Pathibhara temple in Taplejung, met with an accident, and the plan also came to a halt that year.
According to Rajkumar Chhetri, Deputy Director General of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), the budget has been allocated for the feasibility study of Chuhandanda Airport this year. The government also included this airport in its policies and programs and budget.
Atharai Rural Municipality, where Chuhandanda Airport construction site is located, is also the birthplace of then Prime Minister Oli. The next year, Oli himself went to Atharai to celebrate his birthday. Then Prime Minister Oli, who arrived in the village to celebrate his birthday on a helicopter, had said, "The work of Chuhandanda Airport will be completed soon."
Yogesh Bhattarai, who became the Tourism Minister, also promised to build the airport. But his government did not allocate the budget for the airport construction project. Since then, the file has been stuck.
The rural municipality has already facilitated the land required for the construction of the airport, and 271-ropani land is ready for the airport. Out of that, only 10-ropani land in the name of the individual has to be paid.
Currently, there are only airports in Taplejung and Ilam near Chuhandanda. But there are no regular flights to these places.
With the construction of an airport at Chuhandanda, travel will be easy for residents of Panchthar and Taplejung along with Tehrathum and those visiting the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area.
