Design of Chuhandanda Airport, Tehrathum.
The government is going to proceed with the construction of Chuhandanda Airport in Tehrathum in Koshi Province. Suntharali Airport built in Kalikot of Karnali Province is set to be inaugurated.
The Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation has prepared to inaugurate the Suntharali Airport in Kalikot within August.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Forests has already prepared an environmental impact assessment (EIA) report for the Chuhandanda Airport project in Tehrathum.
The airport proposed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has been studied to be built in Chuhandanda in Atharai Rural Municipality.
Chuhandanda Airport will be built and operated for domestic flights.
The project site is at a height of 1450 meters above sea level. Pact Consultants Pvt Ltd conducted its environmental impact assessment.
The runway of the airport will be 640 meters long and 20 meters wide from north-west to south-east. The taxiway is 30 meters long and 15 meters wide. The apron is 60 meters long and 30 meters wide.
Terminal building, staff quarter, police room, cargo building, parking, and other structures will be built at the airport.
There is parking for up to 2 airplanes. An area of 1,500 square meters has been allocated for vehicle parking.
DHC-6 Twin Otter, Let- 410, Dornier 228 or similar aircraft will operate here.
It will be constructed as a STOL airport so that an aircraft can take off and land on a short runway.
Suketar airport is 11-newton meters, Chandragarhi airport is 41 newton meters, Biratnagar airport is 47 newton meters and Kathmandu is 129 newton meters away.
11-hectare area, to cost Rs 1 billion
The airport construction site is 11 hectares in area. The construction cost is estimated at 1 billion rupees.
The EIA has shown that there are 46 species of wildlife around the project area. The total population of Atharai Village is 182 thousand. There are 42 thousand 23 households in the project-affected municipality.
Ward number 6 will be affected by the proposed project. Its total population is 3 thousand 28. The number of households in the ward is 705. The settlements of Hatdanda and Thumki will be more affected by the airport.
A total of 250 meters around the project is considered as directly affected area. Due to the project, 21 houses and other structures will have to be demolished.
In which four houses, two sheds, four kitchens and six cottages have to be demolished. About six hectares of agricultural land, community forest along with residential area should be acquired permanently. However, most of the arable land is barren.
For the manpower required in the construction phase of the airport, priority will be given to local residents based on their skills and competencies, daily demands will increased with the increase in traffic during the airport operation phase.
"It is seen that the proposed Chuhandanda airport can be operated throughout the year due to the favorable weather conditions," the EIA said, "the construction of the airport will provide facilities for business, tourism, communication and transportation."
The construction of the airport will help people from Tehrathum and Panchthar, partly from Taplejung and Ilam economically. Taplejung's Sukator Airport is located near Tehrathum. But there are no regular flights due to lack of favorable weather throughout the year. It is mentioned in the report that Chuhandanda will be an alternative to Suketar.
According to the detailed project report (DPR) made in 2077 BS, it is mentioned that 8,000 sacks of cement and 2,606 metric tons of tarmac will be consumed.
Suntharali Airport, Kalikot
Suntharali Airport being inaugurated
Preparations have been made for the inauguration of the airport which has been built for four decades at Suntharali in Naraharinath Rural Municipality of Kalikot. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' is scheduled to inaugurate the airport on August 30.
Nagendra Bahadur Bista, chairman of Naraharinath Rural Municipality Chief, said preparations are underway for the inauguration of the airport August 30.
"We are preparing to inaugurate the airport on August 30," said Bista, "We are consulting with Members of Parliament of the district.'"
Although there was a test flight on February 11, 2017, there were no regular flights at the airport. The test flight took place when Nepali Congress leader Jeevan Bahadur Shahi was the tourism minister.
More than 420 million rupees have been spent on the construction of the airport. There is a 690-meter long runway here. The headquarters here can be reached in three hours from Manma.
"Even though the airport is ready to be inaugurated, regular flights have not yet been fixed," Bista said, "I have said that it should be inaugurated only after making sure that regular flights will take place."
Spokesman of Nepal Civil Aviation Authority Jagannath Niraula said that it is not certain that the opening will take place immediately as the weather is not good.
The airport has been built. The test flight is yet to be done," Niraula said. "The regular flight will be decided only after the test flight."
The construction of the airport at Suntharali in Kotwada started from 2042 BS.
The dream of the residents of Suntharali Airport, Kalikot, which is older than the road, has yet to be materialized.
