Given the government’s revenue crunch, there were many ways Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun could have balanced his budget while putting Nepal on a path to green energy. But he chose the easy way out. Taxes on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/ev-year">electric vehicles</a> have been increased once again, including for battery-powered public transport. There are no incentives for electrical appliances to boost power consumption now that generation capacity is going into surplus. Taxing electric SUVs makes sense since they are luxury vehicles, but making them less competitive vis-a-vis petrol cars means petroleum imports will not go down. There are no tax rebates for electric buses, scooters or home appliances to promote consumption of surplus electricity. Nepali households should have been incentivised to switch from LPG to electrical cooking. To be sure, the new budget was an improvement on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/1-step-forward-2-steps-back-in-nepal">the 2023-2024 tax range</a>. Last year’s budget had increased taxes on entry-level EVs, electric public utility vans and battery-operated microbuses, while reducing taxes for luxury SUVs and larger variants.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240531050512_26e7a6ea9c6c1c503abc74d56ee6098dc954ff3a4643dda6651cc68ee3461c0b.png" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20240531050512_26e7a6ea9c6c1c503abc74d56ee6098dc954ff3a4643dda6651cc68ee3461c0b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1342" height="392" loading="lazy" alt="EV tax after new budget"> </figure>  Nonetheless, overall tax on electric vehicles has increased with excise and customs up by 5-20%, and there is a backlash from importers who had been enjoying a boom in sales. More than 60% of the cars imported in the past six months were electric. ‘There is no clarity in the government's intention to support and promote electric vehicles,’ said NADA (Nepal Automobile Dealer’s Association) in a statement. ‘The fluctuations in EV taxation don’t only affect the EV business but also discourage entrepreneurs who want to produce electric vehicles in Nepal.’&nbsp; On Tuesday, Finance Minister Barsha Aan Pun unveiled a Rs1.860 trillion budget for 2024-25 in Parliament and said it would set Nepal on an annual economic growth track of 6%. Yet, he managed to allocate only 0.46% of the total budget for environmental protection. In fact, he gave the green light to controversial projects like the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/dam-dangerous">Nagmati Reservoir in Shivapuri National Park</a>, and the proposed $3.5 billion <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/guest-editorial/fight-or-flight">international airport at Nijgad</a>. Both would mean large-scale logging, and lack ecological and economic rationale. These announcements directly contradict Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s own commitment to achieve net zero by increasing forest cover and reducing petroleum use in the next 20 years, which he repeated at last week’s International Expert Dialogue on Mountains, People, and Climate at Chandragiri. In light of the budget, the prime minister’s speech at that event rang hollow: “We must build upon the momentum of past efforts to translate commitment into tangible action preserving the delicate balance between mountain environments for future generation… Climate change is a great concern for us who are experiencing the peril of our pristine natural resources.”&nbsp; Like previous budgets, Pun’s speech was sprinkled with words like pledge, promise, commit, undertake. He used the word गरिनेछ (will be done) 379 times during his 2 hours speech. विकास (development) was repeated 107 times. Energy and the environment barely made the mark.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240531050516_442012c6086fabfc0a6f5a9f0ae17be12ece7866204752255c0bf1652d2eb2d3.png" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20240531050516_442012c6086fabfc0a6f5a9f0ae17be12ece7866204752255c0bf1652d2eb2d3" data-rendition-name="original" width="622" height="447" loading="lazy" alt="Budget Nepal"> <figcaption>Made with Flourish by Ramesh Kumar.</figcaption> </figure>  There were some announcements on renewable energy like the plan to add another 900MW of hydropower to the national grid. Nepal will be generating 6,500MW of power once under-construction projects come on line, and the challenge is to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/missing-pieces-of-the-hydropower-jigsaw">increase household and industrial consumption for which transmission lines need streamlining</a>. Switching to electric transport would also benefit public health by reducing <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/epicentre-of-pollution">Kathmandu’s atrocious air pollution</a>. Kathmandu was the world’s most polluted city on multiple days in the past two months. The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/71-3-fa3osch5">life expectancy of Nepalis might have increased</a>, but air pollution has <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/cleaner-air-longer-lives-0z0okfeu">slashed nearly 5 years</a> of our lives. At least a quarter of children visiting hospitals have asthma with school children in Kathmandu inhaling at least eight times more toxic air than the safety threshold.&nbsp; Nepal’s moral high-ground at the climate summit in Bonn next month will be diminished with budgetary policies that directly contradict our public commitments. A clear national policy that balances economic growth with ecological preservation would give our negotiators more weight when they demand adaptation or <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-is-lost-cannot-be-repaid">loss and damage</a> funds.

Sonia Awale

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Charging Nepal

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412114/6372211a9c7e80680e0c029djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125"/><figcaption>All photos: KASHISH DAS SHRESTHA</figcaption></figure>In a landmark decision last week, the Supreme Court annulled the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/building-nijgad-come-what-may/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">government’s dubious plan to build an airport</a> by destroying Nijgad’s primary forest.The written verdict is still due, but the ruling has opened a path to plot a green runway on which inter-generational equity, and new economic opportunities can take flight in Madhes Province.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/aborted-landing-in-nijgad/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Aborted landing in Nijgad</a>, EditorialHere is the path forward:1. RelocationTangiya Basti spreads over 1,000-hectares in Nijgad’s old-growth forest where families were temporarily settled in 1974-75. Its residents now span four generations, and are still waiting for the government to resettle them. In this wait, the settlement had transitioned from subsistence farming to full-fledged commercial agriculture. Some of the young men from here have become <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/dead-end-of-the-korean-dream/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">migrant workers in Korea</a>. But the nearly 1,500 households, with a population of over 7,000, are still considered squatters on land that was going to be an airport.Residents felt the airport project was their ticket out, and now think the Supreme Court's decision means the government may not feel the need to finally relocate them.However, Tangiya Basti was settled 20 years before the first plan to locate the airport here was even made in 1995. The promise of resettlement was never tied to this, or any other project. Cancellation of the airport should therefore have no bearing on their resettlement. It would simply be the right thing to do, and in an election year it may even be a politically prudent one.https://youtu.be/E0kV65lvbYs2. Reforestation Once Tangiya Basti’s inhabitants are resettled, the land can be annexed back into the larger <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-must-save-nijgad-forest-to-receive-climate-funds/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nijgad forest</a> that it was always a part of. This should be a planned undertaking,  allowing the government and its conservation partners to address issues like protection of the wildlife corridors, the need for watering holes and wetlands, as well as mounds for flood protection.Nepal has signed the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, unlocking up to $45 million to support the expansion of carbon sinks by increasing forest cover. Turning Tangiya Basti back into forest may also give Nepal the chance to tap into that fund before it expires in 2025, while exploring similar financial benefits from other emission reduction programs.  3. ConstructionThere should then be a parallel program to design and build multiple <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/underpasses-to-reduce-roadkill-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wildlife crossings</a> over and under the East-West Highway that goes through Nijgad forest. A multi-year construction project of this kind would give the local economy a boost and reduce road kill.Habitat fragmentation has become one of the leading causes of wildlife deaths along Nepal’s highways, and includes endangered species we have worked so hard to protect.Bordering Parsa National Park and the Chure and Mahabharat Ranges, Nijgad is home to tigers, rhinos, pangolins, and an important regional migratory corridor for wild elephants and other animals. The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/infrastructure-for-wildlife-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wildlife crossings</a> can serve as safe bio-corridors as well as a model for other conservation areas in the country.Establishing a wildlife conservation and ecology research centre would also allow domestic and international conservationists and scholars to engage in Nijgad for fieldwork, as well as bring additional jobs and resources to locals.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412114/6372211f9c7e80680e0c029ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412114/637221239c7e80680e0c029fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1127" height="756"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412114/637221259c7e80680e0c02a0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412114/637221299c7e80680e0c02a1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="999">4. Designation The case can be made that Nijgad already qualifies to be a national park since it shares the same ecological qualities as adjoining Parsa. In fact, without one, it would be difficult to protect what remains of the forest. The case for a national park will be bolstered with the resettlement of Tangiya Basti, and building <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepal-needs-wildlife-friendly-highways/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wildlife crossings</a>.Rhino deaths due to poaching have gone down in Nepal, but their deaths due to territorial fights have been increasing at an alarming rate. Rhino calves have also come under fatal attacks from the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/its-a-jungle-out-there/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">growing tiger population</a>.Territorial fights in crowded national parks, habitat fragmentation and toxic water sources are now among the leading causes of ‘natural’ deaths of endangered wildlife in Nepal. A Nijgad National Park with translocated rhinos would offer much needed new protection and territory for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/in-conservation-nepal-is-not-out-of-the-woods-yet/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal’s conservation efforts</a> and sustainable development.5. TourismThe controversy around the airport has worked to advertise Nijgad’s rich biodiversity, creating a growing interest among urban youth to explore the area. With a planned effort that involves reforestation, building of wildlife crossings, and a national park designation, Nijgad can easily become a popular eco-tourism destination that is as easily accessible as Chitwan through the Kathmandu-Tarai expressway.Because the area is not yet prepared for this, we have a chance to build proper eco-tourism infrastructure and a service sector. The rise of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/pandemic-impact-on-aviation-may-kill-nijgad/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nijgad</a> as a tourism destination would also have positive implications for the local real estate market, a matter of particular interest to the proponents of the airport project.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412114/6372212c9c7e80680e0c02a2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412114/637221309c7e80680e0c02a3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1001"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412114/637221339c7e80680e0c02a4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1001"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412114/637221379c7e80680e0c02a5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">6. FundingMaking funds available to get work started should not be a problem. The government recently allocated a large budget for Nijgad airport. Since the airport will now not be built, those funds can surely help get work started to turn Nijgad into a national park, and put it firmly on the tourist map.Development partners have already expressed <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/importance-of-ecosystems-for-people-and-the-planet/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">keen interest to assist in this</a>. Exactly a year ago on 3 June 2021, the Asian Development Bank, Australian Embassy, British Embassy, European Union, Finnish Embassy, French Embassy, German Embassy, United Nations and World Bank in Nepal issued a joint statement reiterating their commitment of up to $7.4 billion for Nepal’s ‘Green, Resilient and Inclusive Development’.They raised pointed questions about the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/economy-ecology-of-nijgad-airport/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nijgad airport plan</a>, and wrote: ‘Forests are also the source of valuable natural resources and wildlife that support job creation and economic development in the forestry and tourism sectors.’Thanks to the Supreme Court order, Madhes Province has an opportunity to pursue a path towards green growth, and set a new benchmark for Nepal’s development, conservation and economic growth.Kashish Das Shrestha is a 2019 National Geographic Explorer and a sustainable development policy advocate. A version of this op-ed was presented to the Environment Minister Ramsahay Prasad Yadav this week by the youth environment group HarinNepal.

Nijgad’s green runway

<figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915118/636bb4e59c7e80680e07bbcejpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Illustration: DIWAKAR CHETTRI</figcaption></figure>The Nepal government’s plan to force through <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/megalomania-kleptomania/">a mammoth airport project</a>, despite a global recession and concerns about an ecological disaster, has been pushed back after a Swiss company decided to pull out.The government of Prime Minister K P Oli recently announced it was finalising an agreement with Zurich Airport International (ZAI) to develop the $3.45 billion airport at Nijgad, 75km south of Kathmandu.However, ZAI says it knows nothing about an agreement.“In view of the current challenges inflicted on the aviation industry by Covid-19, Zurich Airport International is focusing its activities on our existing projects in India and Brazil,” Raffaela Stelzer, a spokesperson for ZAI told Nepali Times on Thursday. “We do not foresee any investments in projects outside these areas until the situation has significantly improved.”The Oli government had been pushing Nijgad as a ‘national pride project’ ever since it came to power in 2018, and it was aggressively backed by <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/does-nepal-need-a-4th-international-airport/">former Tourism Minister Rabindra Adhikari</a>, and by his current successor Yogesh Bhattarai.The government argues that Kathmandu airport is <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Air-jam,4196">too congested</a>, has limited room for expansion, and Nijgad would be a game changer for Nepal’s economy. But it is not clear if the Nepal government is aware of the ZAI decision.In May, Minister Bhattarai authorised felling of more than 4,000 trees for a link road to the project site located in the last remaining native hardwood forest in Nepal’s eastern plains. The decision came in defiance of the standing Supreme Court order to not engage in any tree cutting for the airport project. <figure><img width="800" height="450" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915118/636bb4e89c7e80680e07bbcfjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Last week, Bhattarai chaired a meeting which was told that nearly 60,000 trees had been counted and labeled for further felling. He instructed officials to complete the tree inventory by mid-November, and plan the relocation of settlements in the zone. Reports from the field say the land mafia is already moving in and encroaching on forests in anticipation of the project.In Last week’s meeting, Bhattarai also directed the Investment Board Nepal (IBN) to communicate the plans to ZAI, and prepare to sign an agreement with the Nepal government.However, even in May it was apparent that there had been no formal understanding between the Nepal government and ZAI, even though in Kathmandu the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism was using an agreement with ZAI as the basis for its decisions to go ahead with allocating a budget for tenders, and planning to cut trees.This has reinforced speculation that a purported deal with ZAI is just being used by the government to channel money for a project that it knows will not happen so the budget can be siphoned off -- as has commonly happened in many other infrastructure projects. Critics have argued that Nijgad is not really an airport project, but a logging concession. ZAI’s Stelzer told us in May: “Yes, in 2019 we expressed our general interest in this project to the government. Since then the ball has been in the court of the Nepalese government. So, the project has never really started for us and we are not able to say more about it at the moment.”Yet, Minister Bhattarai and the government have spent the last four months pretending to media and the public that things were in order with their chosen Swiss partner. Now, ZAI has confirmed that it is no longer interested in building the airport.The arguments against building Nijgad are both economic and environmental. When the grandiose project was first mooted in 1994, passenger jets had shorter range, and the hub-and-spoke model still made sense in aviation. Flights from Europe to East Asia and Australia had to make stopovers, and Nijgad could have been Nepal’s Singapore or Dubai, boosting tourism.However, with new Boeing 777X and 787-10s as well as Airbus 350s, planes can now fly point-to-point for 17 hours or more at a stretch, obviating the need for a refuelling stop. Also, awareness about <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/tourism-aviation-and-carbon/">climate change</a> was already reducing air travel, and now <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/pandemic-impact-on-aviation-may-kill-nijgad/">the Covid-19 crisis has forced global aviation to go belly-up</a>. Experts agree it is the wrong time to be building mega airports.Situated in the plains just south of the Chure Range and next to Parsa National Park, Nijgad is the last remaining patch of the famous Char Kose Jhari wilderness that spanned the Tarai. The forests have an important role in the hydrological ecosystem and food security downstream. Clear-cutting would jeopardise the region’s rich biodiversity, and wildlife corridors for wild elephants and other animals.A pro-forma government <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-environment-impact-non-assessments/">Environment Impact Assessment (EIA)</a> that cleared the project was found to have copy-pasted entire paragraphs from a hydropower scheme in the mountains. The Nijgad EIA says the project site at 200m elevation is the habitat of two mammal species only found in the high mountains. <figure><img width="1500" height="844" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915118/636bb4ea9c7e80680e07bbd0jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The government has said it will build Nijgad with its own money if foreign investors are not interested. But can Nepal, which has been hard-hit by the Covid-19 crisis,  afford an expensive airport when job losses are driving Nepalis to hunger and suicide?Yet, the government remains firmly committed to this white elephant project. The reason probably has something to do with profits that can be made in kickbacks for logging contracts. It must be too tempting to pass up – especially to build a political war-chest ahead of the 2022 elections.The deal to clear-cut the valuable sal hardwood timber is said to be worth at least $500,000,000, and if there is no airport, there will be no justification to clear the forest.Illegal natural resource extraction is already the most lucrative business in Nepal, with contractors enjoying full political protection from many local ward chairs to the federal government in Kathmandu. Illegal sand-mining, quarrying, and the land mafia are well-established and have deep connections to politicians at the highest levels in Nepal.In the 2017 elections, some of these contractors even got themselves elected as mayors, and became members of provincial and federal parliaments. Illegal and unsustainable sand and boulder mining of mountains and rivers have changed the entire landscape of parts of Nepal. <figure><img width="1844" height="1120" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915118/636bb4ee9c7e80680e07bbd1jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The government and backers of the project have called those opposing the project  ‘anti-development’ and ‘dollar-funded’, and people who do not want to see Nepal prosper.Bara district, where Nijgad is located, is also ground-zero for extreme weather events in recent years: heat waves, recurring floods, winter cold snaps that have killed hundreds, and even a freak tornado last year that flattened villages, killing 70.With the climate crisis intensifying natural disasters, would any developer investing $3.45 billion take such a site seriously for an airport that needs to be a busy international aviation hub?The answer is no. But there is just too much money to be made, and Nepal’s kleptocracy is pushing this ghost airport so it can make a quick killing.Kashish Das Shrestha is a <a href="https://admin.nationalgeographic.org/find-explorers/kashish-das-shrestha">National Geographic Explorer</a>. He is a former adviser to Parliament’s Natural Resources and Means Committee and Water and Energy Committee. @kashishds

Zurich Airport International opts out of Nepal project

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101116/636b70319c7e80680e060065jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1093" height="835"/><figcaption>Nepali Times #990</figcaption></figure>How ironic, when we destroy something created by man we term it as ‘vandalism’ but when we destroy something created by nature we call it ‘progress’ (‘15 points for and against Nijgad’, #990).Ajay LimbuThe government is set to revise the ratio of compensatory tree plantation from 25:1 to 10:1 for ‘National Pride Projects’. So, the government will be required to plant fewer trees now.Bibek ShresthaI hope the Nepal Government goes ahead with this project. Even our counterparts in South  and the Southeast Asia have moved ahead and we are still debating on building an airport or not. Just build the damn thing.Bali Hang SambahangpheDoes Nepal even need Nijgad after completion of Lumbini and Pokhara international airports?Chiran BasnetPokhara and Bhairahawa airports are built with regional standards for regional purposes. The Nijgad will be our first truly ‘international airport’. TIA is not even a regional standard airport as per modern requirements.Bibek LimbuNijgad airport to become an international hub is most likely the biggest propaganda ever created to justify the irreversible destruction of nature that will affect the entire region.Sanjaya Singh KCA somewhat madcap project that smacks of extreme hubris.Marcus CottonNijgad is a profoundly bad idea. Now that Pokhara and Bhairawa are nearly operational, Nepal needs to sort out the air traffic situation before taking any more steps.Joe NiemczuraPeople think that trees never grow once gone, and they would be right if new saplings are not planted. International airport I would say is a must but with minimal damage of the environment.Deepak RijalThe balance of social, economic and environment is essential for sustainable development. Therefore, it should be built minimising the environmental loss.Anjalee ThakaliThe human destruction of nature has crossed the tipping point. So many species are going extinct due to unwarranted development blinded by greed. The next generation will have a huge task undoing our folly. Could we not have smaller international airports at alternative sites?Prabir RanaGood news. Congratulations. Please avoid all the mistakes of Kathmandu airport at all cost (‘Pokhara: Nepal’s new aviation getaway’, Kunda Dixit, #990).Ramesh ShresthaThis is surely going to be the world’s most beautiful international airport.Sue ChamberlainIt’s absolutely great that some planes/tourists can bypass the air traffic congestion of Kathmandu airport and go directly to Pokhara. Still, bigger planes can’t land in Pokhara (and Bhairawa) and Kathmandu will continue to be the gateway for most tourists flying in to Nepal, and congestion will be worse. Nijgad airport needs to be built.Avani Mani DixitA crazy daft idea driven by greed for earnings and with no thought for the pristine environment of the Pokhara and surrounding valleys. Relax by the Fewa or Begnas lakes? Not anymore with jet aircraft blasting overhead.Marc McConnellIf Kathmandu Airport is operated 24 hours and the management is working effectively there is plenty of space for many more flights landing and departing.Stephan KocherNepal needs an international airport close to Kathmandu and Nijgad is the most suited. However, the  environmental impact is also real. If the airport is built, a forest three times larger must be created  elsewhere. This way we have airport with net gain of the forest. As we rely more and more on international air travel, which is rapidly growing, it’s imperative that we are ready for the future. Kathmandu airport doesn’t even meet today’s domestic airport adequate standard when comparing with other countries. There has to be an international airport somewhere in Nepal, which can act like Hub.Roger AdhikariYes environment is a big thing to consider here but Nepal doesn’t need a big airport as Nijgad. Kathmandu, Pokhara and Bhairawa should be expanded. The hub model has been replaced by point-to-point aviation, so Nijgad is obsolete.  The Air Asia X long haul low-cost carrier model is a perfect example of which way aviation is going in Asia.Aashik Pokhrel

For and against Nijgad airport

<img width="1500" height="886" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151128/636a678d9c7e80680e0599e3jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>For<ol><li>Kathmandu airport is congested and saturated. It is now surrounded by the city and is not safe. Nepal urgently needs an alternative international airport.</li><li>Kathmandu is one-way-in, one-way-out for large jets. Planes have to circle for hours to land in Kathmandu, because poor visibility forces domestic flights to also line up for instrument approach. Nijgad would solve that problem and ease congestion.</li><li>Kathmandu airport is at 1,338m elevation. This forces load penalty on large jets, which cannot carry full passenger and fuel load at takeoff.</li><li>Steep terrain makes Kathmandu dangerous and unsuitable for the Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach. Nijgad is located in the plains 15-30km away from the Chure and Mahabharat ranges.</li><li>Nijgad lies along the proposed Himalaya 2 air route over Nepal, which will shorten flying distance between west and east Asia, and reduce congestion along north Indian air corridors. Having an airport on that route would improve safety.</li><li>Nijgad can be a prime ‘hub’ airport like Singapore, Dubai or Istanbul, which airlines can use for refuelling and stopovers. Nepal Airlines can pick up transit traffic, and thus prop up the country’s tourism.</li><li>International experts looked at Simara, Janakpur and other sites for a new international airport, and selected Nijgad because of its proximity to Kathmandu, terrain, distance to the Indian border and other factors.</li><li>Nijgad’s catchment area will include northern Bihar, and Indian nationals in that area will find it more convenient to take international flights from there.</li><li>Nijgad is located 30-40km from the Indian border, allowing planes to make approaches over Nepali territory.</li><li>The environment impact assessment (EIA) of Nijgad by the Department of Forests and Environment gave it a clean chit.</li><li>As a national pride project, Nijgad will transform Nepal’s economy in the coming decades, acting as a catalyst for employment and downstream services.</li><li>It is not true that 2.5 million trees will be cut for the airport. In the first phase, only 195,000 big trees and 575,000 small ones will be felled. For every tree cut, 25 more will be planted.</li><li>Nijgad is the most suitable site for an alternative airport because fewer people will be displaced, reducing the cost of compensation.</li><li>You cannot have an omelet without breaking eggs. You cannot have development without lopping off a few trees.</li><li>Tree-hugging activists sabotaged Arun III for a few butterflies, and now they want to sabotage Nijgad for a few elephants which can always find another way.</li></ol>Against<ol><li>The existing Kathmandu airport is already handling 7.3 million passengers per year. It can accommodate 10 million if properly managed and with simple upgrades. A three-phase, $240 million ADB-funded upgrade has been allowed to lapse to make Nijgad a fait accompli.</li><li>Extending existing taxiways to thresholds of RWY02 and 20 would streamline takeoffs and landings. Moving most short takeoff and landing (STOL) traffic to Ramechhap, or rehabilitating the old RWY34-16 for small planes, would reduce congestion and increase passenger capacity.</li><li>The proposed 300m extension of RWY02 would have solved that problem. Low fuel burn on new generation aircraft like the Boeing 787 and Airbus 350 would make long-haul flights possible.</li><li>Radar installations at Kathmandu and Bhattedanda have improved safety. Most international airlines flying into Kathmandu use the new RNAV approach, which is superior to ILS.</li><li>Himalaya 2 was first proposed in 2005, it is not yet operational. Even if it was, Nijgad would just be a waypoint on that air way. There are plenty of other airports within 15 minutes flying time in India for emergency landings.</li><li>The ‘hub’ model is now obsolete. International aviation has moved to the ‘point-to-point’ model because advances in technology allow longer-range planes. Besides, Nepal Airlines is not Emirates.</li><li>Nijgad is 80km from Kathmandu city centre. Even with the new expressway, passengers will incur additional travel time. Passengers catching a 8PM flight from Nijgad will have to leave Kathmandu latest at 3PM because of traffic.</li><li>But why would Indians want to go through Nepali customs and immigration?</li><li>Top of Descent (ToD) for planes flying at 36,000ft is 150km away from a destination. Nijgad would still require flights to coordinate with Indian air traffic control.</li><li>The EIA was a greenwash, and hurriedly copy-pasted from a hydropower project in Dolakha, according to a report in Kantipur.</li><li>Nijgad is not an airport project but a logging concession. A corrupt state that cannot even upgrade the Nagarkot road in 5 years has no right to take on a $6.5-billion project.</li><li>Nijgad is the last remaining native hardwood forest in the eastern Tarai. It is on the migratory route of wild elephants and is a critical corridor for other wildlife. This forest is unique and irreplaceable.</li><li>A valuable nature sanctuary will be destroyed, this has a cost. Simara airport 10km away can be expanded to accommodate 2 east-west runways without much logging.</li><li>It is not necessary to clear 80sqkm of forest and prevent 22,500 tons of carbon from being sequestered every year. There are alternatives.</li><li>The main argument against Nijgad is not environmental, although protecting wild elephants is important. It is an economic argument against a white elephant.</li></ol>Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/does-nepal-need-a-4th-international-airport/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Does Nepal need a 4th international airport?</a>, Om Astha Rai<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/chaos-at-airport-due-to-runway-repair/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chaos at airport due to runway repair</a>, Sharad Ojha<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/pokhara-nepals-new-aviation-gateway/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pokhara: Nepal’s new aviation gateway</a>, Kunda Dixit<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/sick-airport/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sick airport</a>, Dipak Gyawali

15 points for and against Nijgad Airport

<figure><img width="1000" height="1385" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141124/636a58c49c7e80680e054853jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>DIWAKAR CHHETRI</figcaption></figure>The Nepal Communist Party government, with Prime Minister KP Oli at the helm, is nearing two years in office. It has been taken to task for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/own-worst-enemy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">non-performance and under-performance</a>. And rightly so. When it does take a decision it is usually the wrong one, like the project to fell a vast tract of forest for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/economy-ecology-of-nijgad-airport/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an airport that may never be built</a>, or <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/melamchi-delayed-by-government-extortion/">sabotaging Melamchi</a>.There is a lot to be critical of about the present government. They give profound speeches, make wild promises, pass the buck, come up with excuses and when nothing works, threaten the messenger of bad tidings.Yet, there are ministers in government who are working quietly behind the scenes to get things done. They do not say much, they speak softly and carry a big stick. The late Minister of Tourism Rabindra Adhikari was one of them, and he multitasked to get various projects off the ground. His <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-last-journey/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">death in a helicopter crash</a> in April was a tragic loss for the country.Alas his successor, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/unusual-appointment-extraordinary-tasks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yogesh Bhattarai</a>, though full of youthful energy and ambition, has fallen into the trap of making populist proclamations and issuing daft orders like playing the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/anti-national-anthem/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">national anthem during evening prayers at Pashupati</a>. Another NCP Young Turk in the cabinet who we do not hear much from is Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/win-win-migration/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gokarna Bista.</a> Even as energy minister in the Jhalnath Khanal administration in 2012, Bista was known for his low profile and no-nonsense style.In May 2018, as labour minister, Bista took the unprecedented step of stopping Nepalis from going to Malaysia to work, soon after a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kleptocrats-of-kathmandu-and-kualalampur/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">crossborder investigation by this newspaper</a>, Himal Khabarpatrika and Malaysiakini exposed corrupt Nepali and Malaysian officials and private companies overcharging more than Rs5 billion ($450 million) from over 600,000 Nepali workers between September 2013 and April 2018.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kleptocrats-of-kathmandu-and-kualalampur/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kleptocrats of Kathmandu and Kuala Lumpur</a>, Ramu Sapkota and Alyaa AlhadjriIt was regime change in both Malaysia and Nepal that allowed the recruitment mechanism to be overhauled. Officials and private companies in Malaysia, with political protection in the Barisan Nasional coalition of former Prime Minister Najib Razak, worked with influential brokers in Kathmandu to cheat Nepali workers.In July, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/punished-in-malaysia-ignored-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">began prosecution against</a> Malaysia’s former Deputy Prime Minister and Internal Affairs Minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Among the many charges against him was taking a $10 million bribe to permit company Ultra Kirana become a One Stop Centre for visa processing and labour migration from Nepal and other countries.No one has yet been charged in Nepal. Instead, Minister Bista came under pressure from powerful businesses with political protection, who had been profiting from fees levied on Nepali migrant workers.Despite this, Bista’s ministry pushed through an MoU with Malaysian Minister for Human Resources M Kulasegeran last year, which requires employers to pay for visa fees and air tickets of Nepali workers, as well as for other facilities.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-and-malaysia-rewrite-rules-for-migrant-labour/">Nepal and Malaysia rewrite rules for migrant labour</a>, Kunda DixitIt took almost a whole year for the technical details of that deal to be worked out by a joint working committee, which finalised them in Kuala Lumpur on 12 September, opening the door for the resumption of Nepali workers going to Malaysia.All credit for ironing out this deal goes to Ministers Bista and Kulasegeran, who have kept the welfare of workers at the forefront of all negotiations. As the minister <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-and-malaysia-rewrite-rules-for-migrant-labour/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told this newspaper in an interview last week</a>, the goal has been to ensure that workers are not exploited, spend less on fees, earn decent pay and are treated well in the workplace.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/labour-pains/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepali migrant workers</a> have been made to jump through hoops to get their paperwork done. They face harassment and demands for payoffs every step of the way before departure. Bista insisted on tackling this culture and making it as convenient as possible for workers to get the necessary tests and documents before departure.Read also: <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/bargaining-power/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bargaining power</a>, EditorialIn fact, one of the reasons for the delay in negotiations was Nepal’s insistence that the 37 institutions the Malaysians had recognised to do medical tests for workers needed to be increased to 122, and be located throughout the country. The ministry is also working to allow Nepali missions abroad, as well as provincial governments, to renew work permits. As with everything else in Nepal, laws and agreements are not enough. There are too many vested interest groups that have profited for too long from the sweat and blood of poor Nepali workers who will want to see this agreement fail.But let us give credit where it is due. And at this paper we are committed to keeping readers informed on progress. Read also: <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/labour-pains/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Labour pains</a>, Editorial <h2>10 years ago this week</h2> Nepali Times <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/470" target="_blank" rel="noopener">edition #470</a> of 25 September -1 October 2009 looked forward to the Dasain break:Dasain is here! So much has changed these past two decades — we’ve moved from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy to state-at-war to republic to absolute chaos and we’re still not done — but for Dasain, the song remains the same. Perhaps not quite the same. Commercialism is rife, but whatever the naysayers bang on about, Dasain remains a quintessentially Nepali festival.  <img width="327" height="500" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141124/636a58c79c7e80680e054854jpeg.jpg" alt="">Whether you choose to celebrate it or not, when you see the kites flutter in the vigorous seasonal winds, when you see determined-looking family units trooping around your neighbourhood with huge plasters of tika on their foreheads, for an instant at least, one hopes we’ll all remember our connections with this great festival, forget our differences and think of them as the diversity that could still make us a great nation.

REDUCING  LABOUR  PAIN

<figure><img width="1500" height="1125" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131140/636a4eae9c7e80680e04fcccjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>All photos: SEWA BHATTARAI</figcaption></figure>Among Prakash Ranjit's 365 illustrations on display at Nexus Cultural Center in Patan, many are of human faces with bodies of animals. A man sleeps on the roadside inside the body of an elephant, another one stares at the computer from inside a huge lizard, and there is one grimacing with porcupine quills popping out all over his back."These animals personify human emotions, and the behaviours that we human beings have come to associate with them," explains the artist. "For example, an elephant symbolises weight, I have played around with the concept of hatti lai palera rakhnu (to provide for an elephant), which symbolises a great burden. The lizard is a hungry boa, and the bristling quills of the porcupine obviously represent anger." <img width="640" height="747" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131140/636a4eb19c7e80680e04fccdjpeg.jpg" alt="">Ranjit used animals because he found it easier to identify with them. After years of struggling with <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/stigma-and-silence-mental-health-nepal,3486" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mental health</a> issues, beginning with eating disorders as a child, Ranjit was diagnosed with <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/its-all-in-the-mind/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">depression, anxiety</a> and borderline personality disorder as an adult. After schema therapy, his doctor recommended that he write down his thoughts and maintain a daily diary. Ranjit, who had graduated in fine arts from KU in 2014, found that he was sketching more than writing in his journals. Since it helped him to identify and process his emotions, he stuck with it.Initially, as an experiment, he gave himself a 30 day challenge. Every day, he would take a piece of paper and work with different painting materials: pen, brush, ink, crayons, pencil colours, and posted the sketches on his social media. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/ashna-comes-out-of-the-black/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ashna comes out of the black</a>, Sewa Bhattarai <img width="1500" height="1125" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131140/636a4eb59c7e80680e04fccejpeg.jpg" alt="">The day he was feeling anxious, he drew a tower on fire. A day he felt affectionate, he drew a pair of cuddling foxes. He experimented with tarot cards, monsters, and many other motifs that helped him express emotions best. And if he felt too overwhelmed to delve into human emotions, he used animals. The result is a series of sketches that almost overwhelm the viewer with their emotional intensity. The sketches also document the lives of the urban poor, which seems to be a recurring subject of interest for Ranjit who noticed people's hardships during his walks. A little boy carrying tea getting wet in the rain, porters talking of eating chicken and rice after their next trip, a woman selling flowers outside a temple, or a man who repairs shoes at a street corner, they are all rendered with sensitivity and great detail. His artwork have recorded not just his emotional journey but a social documentation as well.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/all-in-the-family/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">All in the family</a>, Prakriti Kandel <img width="1500" height="1500" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131140/636a4eb89c7e80680e04fccfjpeg.jpg" alt="">Some of his work are also satires on social reality like <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/letter-to-the-president,2403" target="_blank" rel="noopener">traffic jams caused by VIP motorcades</a>, and the destruction of forests to build a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/economy-ecology-of-nijgad-airport/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new airport in Nijgad</a>. They are all drawn in clean and precise lines, some are whimsical, others use fantasy as the real world blends with the imaginary. Strange creatures walk beside humans, masked dancers meld humans and animals, monsters and fairies live underwater, and elves peep out from behind bushes.After Ranjit worked on his daily sketches for more than a year, he stopped, since it helped him deal with his inner demons and decided to exhibit and sell originals. "Maybe I will try other mediums, or maybe I will devote more time on a single piece unlike now," says Ranjit, "this is not just a job, it is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/all-in-the-family/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">therapy</a>."365: Not just a numberNexus Art Gallery, BakhundoleUntil 31 July

365 is not just a number

The government’s determination to clear-fell a large swathe of eastern Nepal’s last remaining hardwood forest for the proposed <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/does-nepal-need-a-4th-international-airport/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nijgad Airport</a> has been met with outrage on the social mediasphere. But there has been no debate over the viability of a fourth international airport: if it is even required, or if investors will be interested in such a huge project. The government says it will start turning a profit from day one, and propel Nepal into the future, but there are serious doubts. After a Korean firm, Landmark International, designed the new airport city ten years ago, there has not been a business plan or a detailed project report. Yet, the government is in a desperate hurry to start clearing the forests. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/east-west-city/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">East-West City</a>, Mukesh PokhrelThe government is yet to inform the Parliament about how it will manage to secure the $6.7 billion (more than half of this year’s national budget) to build the ambitious project in a country where even constructing a city street takes decades. Tourism and Aviation Minister Rabindra Adhikari (pictured, right) has been the prime mover of the project, and has said only 250,000 trees will be cut in the $1 billion first phase, which will use up only 1,800 hectares of the forest. 		
							<figure><img width="640" height="990" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107161120/636922a69c7e80680e03a13djpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>REACHING UP: Tourism Minister Rabindra Adhikari points at the Korean-made design of the proposed Nijgad Airport in his office. Adhikari has been the prime mover of the $6.7 billion airport, which critics say is economically unviable and ecologically disastrous. Pic: Bikram Rai</figcaption></figure>But Landmark’s proposal puts the total project cost beyond $8 billion if inflation is taken into account, and the 80 sq km aeropolis would be six times bigger than Heathrow and result in the felling of 2.4 million trees. It would have a capacity to handle 60 million passengers a year.Ex-Emirates pilot PJ Shah is a self-proclaimed lobbyist for Nijgad. He told Nepali Times: “This will be our safest, most efficient and profitable international airport.” The two parallel east-west runways with state-of-the-art precision approach would make the airport much easier to fly in and out of. There would be no congestion, and it would be big enough to handle traffic growth well into the future. When the 72 km Kathmandu-Tarai expressway is completed, the travel time by road to the capital will be one hour. “All these factors make Nijgad the perfect site for a large international airport,” Shah says. “Where else would we find such an ideal place?” To be sure, Kathmandu airport is too congested, and is choking <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Air-jam,4196" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal’s economy</a>. There is limited room for expansion, the terrain is tricky and does not allow for large jets. Ex-pilot Dorji Tsering Sherpa says: “We need Nijgad because Kathmandu airport cannot drive our economy any longer.” To justify the need of Nijgad Airport, politicians point to the growing volume of international passengers served by Kathmandu. But what if the growth in international traffic actually goes down due to the drop of migrant workers? Malaysia and Qatar are already demanding fewer workers than in the past. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/megalomania-kleptomania/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Megalomania + Kleptomania</a>, Editorialhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdRauyhpccALast year, only 354,000 migrant workers flew out of Kathmandu, down from 500,000 in 2015. Already, Air Asia is pulling out its daily widebody Kuala Lumpur flights. Nepal is adding two international airports in the next two years, in Bhairawa and Pokhara, to serve up to 2.5 million passengers annually. These would <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/incompetence-of-kathmandu-airport-magnified-during-shutdown,2086" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reduce the burden on Kathmandu</a> where an expansion plan would allow 6 million passengers a year. If Kathmandu airport's traffic is reduced by half, where will the Nijgad Airport find the 60 million passengers it needs to sustain itself? In June, Tourism minister Adhikari told Nepali Times that 90% international passengers landing in and flying out of Nijgad will use it only as a transit: “People from other countries of this region will use it as a transit hub to and from Europe and the US." Aviation experts find that preposterous. Transit airports with hub-and-spoke functions are fast becoming obsolete as international aviation moves to point-to-point connectivity with advanced long-range airliners like the Boeing 777-8, the Boeing 787-9 and the Airbus A350ULR, which are able to fly up to 20 hours non-stop. And there is an issue of air space. Nijgad is 22 km north of the Indian border, which means a lot of coordination for terminal maneuvering will be need coordination with Indian air traffic control for arrivals and departures. Nepal and India are both members of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which theoretically obliges Delhi to accommodate Nepal's needs. Critics say that given how projects like <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Melamchi-flows-to-Kathmandu,3397" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Melamchi</a> have taken decades to be completed, and how Nepal’s civil aviation authorities cannot even maintain the one runway in Kathmandu, and considering the high level of corruption and lack of transparency in government dealings, such a mega-project would be a disaster for the country. Instead of allowing Nepal’s economy to take off, they say it may actually tie future generations into a debt trap.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/does-nepal-need-a-4th-international-airport/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Does Nepal need a 4th international airport?</a>, Om Astha Rai<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Air-jam,4196" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Airjam</a>, Om Astha Rai

Economy & ecology of Nijgad airport

Nepal’s only international aviation gateway, at Kathmandu airport, will cut night-time operation hours to allow construction of taxiways, and airlines have been told to curtail flights. This is expected to lead to more than normal chaos during the height of peak autumn and spring tourist seasons at an airport that is congested even at the best of times. The airport will close from 10PM to 8AM from 8 November-31 March 2025. The taxiways will now connect to the thresholds at both ends of the runway, making the airport more efficient in handling higher frequencies of landings and takeoffs. The parallel taxiway extension will allow international flights to land every 4 minutes instead of the current every 7 minutes. At present planes have to wait to land until a plane taking off backtracks along the runway.&nbsp; Kathmandu is Nepal’s only airport with international operations, and it has only one runway that is only one way in from the south over the mountains. With the taxiway improvement, the airport will be able to handle 42 aircraft landings and takeoffs per hour — double the current capacity.&nbsp; The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has been trying to entice international airlines to also start flying to and from the other two international airports at Pokhara and Bhairawa (Lumbini) by slashing landing and handling charges. But so far only Nepal Airlines operates a weekly flight to Bhairawa from Kuala Lumpur.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241018161016_046569e53d1d66cd445cc66c697c0ef724810aec9f54bdf827481e3cd6b80c32.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20241018161016_046569e53d1d66cd445cc66c697c0ef724810aec9f54bdf827481e3cd6b80c32" data-rendition-name="original" width="2356" height="1134" loading="lazy" alt="Kathmandu airport expansion"> <figcaption>Kathmandu Airport Expansion plan with extension of taxiways to the thresholds of runways 02 and 20 that will limit airport operations from 8 November 2024 - 31 March 2025. Areas in blue are existing structures, including the international terminal which in future will be the domestic airport, and the new international terminal near the north end of the runway,</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241018121028_6e17cc2ee87c1b02d78cb54905825b7aa15299b7a00f5eddb01a59579ab85c1a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241018121028_6e17cc2ee87c1b02d78cb54905825b7aa15299b7a00f5eddb01a59579ab85c1a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1353" height="1328" loading="lazy" alt="Kathmandu airport NT"> </figure>  CAAN has reportedly told international airlines to cut their flight frequency to Kathmandu citing the shorter operation hours and has told budget airlines to shift some of their flights to Pokhara or Bhairawa, or face cuts. Many airlines currently operate regular flights to and from Kathmandu between 10PM and 8AM: Air Arabia to Sharjah, Fly Dubai to Dubai, Jazeera Airways to Kuwait, Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong, Singapore Airlines, several Nepal Airlines flights, and one of four daily flights by Qatar Airways to Doha. Jazeera Airways, FlyDubai, and Thai AirAsia have applied and got permission from CAAN to begin regular flights to Bhairawa’s Gautam Buddha International Airport. Starting 9 November, FlyDubai will start making a stopover in Bhairawa before flying on to Kathmandu. Immigration, customs and security are all fully functional in Bhairawa. In Kathmandu, the next phase of the airport upgrade includes converting the current international terminal for domestic operations, the construction of a new international terminal where the domestic departure area is now, as well as moving the hangars and the Nepal Army Air Wing to the eastern side of the runway. The apron area will also double its parking space for widebody jets. This is part of a Airport Capacity Enhancement Project that was initially funded through a $80 million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the entire masterplan is expected to cost $800 million. This project is the latest upgrade to Nepal’s only international airport since it saw its first flight in 1949. The current international and domestic terminals are too small to handle the current annual traffic volume of 8.5 million passengers a year that is growing at 20% a year.

Kathmandu airport to cut flight hours

As Kathmandu becomes more congested and polluted, and with remote online work becoming the norm, many professional Nepalis are planning to retire in Pokhara, or move there.&nbsp; With its stunning mountain panorama, balmy winters and proximity to a profusion of wilderness areas, builders are responding to this demand with new townhouses, housing development and apartments. One such block of flats is the 10-storey <a href="https://sungavaapartment.com/">Sungava Apartment</a> located at Phulbari above the Seti River, near the point where it flows into and under Pokhara. The imposing structure near Manipal Hospital is almost complete, and on a recent visit the site was strewn with huge boulders unearthed while digging the foundation.&nbsp; The Seti brought down these boulders during a gigantic flood that geologists estimate happened 800 years ago when a chunk of Annapurna IV broke off and ploughed into the glacier below. Today, Sungava (means ‘orchid’) sits safely on a high terrace, 100m above the blue-green Seti and commands a view of Dhaulagiri, Annapurna South, Machapuchre, Annapurna III and IV.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024102411104_5f8fc736c86ea3c08d7bef43bb727081d3cc1a2caa55ae2b441717e6044de7e9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024102411104_5f8fc736c86ea3c08d7bef43bb727081d3cc1a2caa55ae2b441717e6044de7e9" data-rendition-name="original" width="2016" height="1512" loading="lazy" alt="High living below the Himalaya NT"> </figure>  The soil here is conglomerate that has solidified like concrete, and the boulders were extracted by heavy earthmovers. It is intriguing to think that these metamorphic rocks as big as cars, rounded by glacial grinding, were once a part of a much higher Annapurna IV. Even for those with little interest in geology, Sungava is an ideal place to contemplate the tectonic forces that pushed these peaks into the sky to be sculpted into delicate shapes by wind, snow, earthquake and avalanche over millions of years. The view of the Himalayan panorama from Sungava’s many balconies are breathtaking when not obscured by clouds, or the haze that drifts in from across the southern border. On most days, just watching the towering pyramid of Machapuchre (Tamu name: कतासुँ क्लिको) play hide and seek with the clouds is mesmerising. There are rocks aplenty at Phulbari, and it is probably the flowers that grew along the flat terraces e that gave the place its flowery name. The boulders will hopefully be turned into a rock garden while landscaping. An nearby restaurant complex is making the best use of the stones in its design, using flat rocks as outdoor benches and tables. Sungava was designed by the husband-wife architect team of Deepak Sherchan and Jyoti Joshi of <a href="https://thedarkmermaidamarbshrestha.blogspot.com/2013/12/creative-builders-collaborative-cbc.html">Creative Builders Collaborative (CBC)</a>, which also built Heritage Plaza, Indreni Apartment and numerous other projects in Nepal. Sadbhavana retains CBC’s trademark Newari-style masonry and here it borrows from the orange brickwork of the old town of Pokhara, integrating it with modern design elements. A few of those heritage houses are still standing in Ganesh Tole and Ram Krishna Tole in Pokhara’s old quarter.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024102411108_5eb64a4885961b6d30781cefeb1e8a313da313ac5227c7a66b60f0c7d48d6fab.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2024102411108_5eb64a4885961b6d30781cefeb1e8a313da313ac5227c7a66b60f0c7d48d6fab" data-rendition-name="original" width="1362" height="595" loading="lazy" alt="High living below the Himalaya NT"> </figure>  About 400m from the apartment past a bend on the river, and down below three tiers of terraces in the canyon is a suspension bridge. Below it, the Seti is still swollen with post-monsoon flow as it tumbles away in a hurry to head down south.&nbsp; Back at the apartment, it is quiet, far away from the hubbub of Lakeside a 15 minute drive away, and in the lap of greenery. There are 52 units at Sungava and it already has a close-knit prospective community of professionals, including doctors, publishers, engineers, and businesspeople from the renewable energy and IT sectors.&nbsp; Some residents say they opted for a second home in Pokhara to make it a ‘base camp’ to explore the Annapurnas with its many hiking trails made newly accessible with new roads. With the NRN citizenship law, overseas Nepalis can now also buy the flats. &nbsp; The floor plans include options for north and south-facing 3-bedroom apartments with verandas, and the facility has underground parking has EV charging, heated pool, sauna and gym. There are still some unsold apartments with panoramic views of the mountains and one can imagine oneself at the kitchen with its huge window, humming a ditty while preparing breakfast: “खाना पकाउँ हिमाल हेरेर...”

High living below the Himalaya

When the United Nations held its Summit of the Future at its headquarters in New York in September, many world leaders, including Nepal’s Prime Minister K P Oli, highlighted the effect of climate breakdown in increasing the frequency and intensity of natural disasters. What did not get as much attention was the long term impact of the climate crisis on food production. In fact, heat stress, weather extremes and the consequences on rain-fed agriculture is already being felt worldwide, undermining the chances of the <a href="https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/">UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)</a> being met by 2030.&nbsp; The SDG’s 17 targets commit countries like Nepal to reduce poverty and inequality, end malnutrition, protect the natural environment, and ensure that citizens all enjoy health, justice and prosperity without leaving anyone behind.&nbsp; However, besides the impact of climate breakdown on agricultural production, in Nepal the area under cultivation is impacted by urban expansion, falling productivity and the need for expensive inputs like fertiliser and pesticides.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_626413c5baf4dae407ac9579231b41daeb51510aa636b75aeb7489d94cca6a62.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241019041052_626413c5baf4dae407ac9579231b41daeb51510aa636b75aeb7489d94cca6a62" data-rendition-name="original" width="999" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>Kathmandu's urban sprawl is eating into its fertile cultivable lands. Photo: TAYLOR MASON</figcaption> </figure>  Now, a new study led by Nepali researcher Prajal Pradhan at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands looks at how urban agriculture may offer a solution to falling food production and meeting SDG targets. The researchers evaluated 1,450 publications exploring the contributions of urban agriculture with both positive and negative effects, and published their findings in the journal Cells Report Sustainability. Urban agriculture can help achieve 17 SDGs, positively influencing 81 targets. However, it could also undermine 51 goals.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-vanishing-land">The vanishing land</a>, Taylor Mason “Urban agriculture offers immense potential for sustainable development, but realising this potential depends crucially on adopting practices that minimise its adverse effects while maximising its benefits,” Pradhan explains. Urban agriculture can substantially enhance urban food security, provide employment to the urban poor, serve as ground water recharge in built-up areas, and preserve open spaces that can serve as safe havens during disasters like earthquakes. However, it also presents problems like the potential health risks from contamination and the need for expensive inputs. &nbsp; “Urban agriculture plays a definitive role in advancing the SDGs, but achieving this requires tailored, context-specific solutions that address the unique challenges of different regions,” says Yuanchao Hu of Wuhan University in China and who is a researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. “But it needs equitable access and rigorous management of environmental risks.”&nbsp; Rapid urbanisation is eating into Nepal’s most fertile agricultural land, which means farming in remaining open spaces inside cities can be a viable alternative, especially as food prices rise.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_7b7c9413086226fbdc630d45acf772cfa1ced77a8970b9056ec5ec7e5226fdf8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20241019041052_7b7c9413086226fbdc630d45acf772cfa1ced77a8970b9056ec5ec7e5226fdf8" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="999" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>A vegetable patch in between new houses in Thimi. Photo: TAYLOR MASON</figcaption> </figure>  “The conversion of Nepal’s most fertile land into cities is a severe problem,” Pradhan told Nepali Times. “Crop cultivation, horticulture, agroforestry, beekeeping, livestock rearing, or aquaculture can all be farming activities within and around cities.”&nbsp; The study makes recommendations for sustainable practices that build on the positive aspects of urban agriculture while mitigating the downsides, thereby promoting more resilient cities in future. Research shows that urban agriculture has been helping many countries attain SDG targets by enhancing food security and biodiversity while helping education and preservation of open spaces.&nbsp; Indeed, many farmers from the hinterland who have settled in Kathmandu Valley or other urban areas of the country have been practicing urban agriculture, leasing neighbourhood patches or cultivating roof gardens both out of necessity because of inflation and falling income to grow their own food, and also as a fulfilling hobby. Saurav Dhakal, a sustainability advocate with Story Cycle and now research fellow at the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand, says there are socio-economic and environmental benefits of urban agriculture. “It provides benefits to all urban dwellers, regardless of their income status,” says Dhakal, “families get fresh food, and there are many other benefits like water retention, heat regulation and biodiversity. These are all public goods, so special government incentives may be needed.” It is not unusual to see vegetable patches and even paddy fields within inner city Kathmandu where an older generation of farmers are using available fertile land and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/rooftop-gardens-kathmandu,1415">roof gardens to produce fresh, nutritious food </a>to reduce their dependence on food items that have to be bought after being trucked in from large distances.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024101905100_1291ce98dbbb8caed8702ac4b1d469b3e13016d7ecaaf3bfd5f91c974d3c0c77.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2024101905100_1291ce98dbbb8caed8702ac4b1d469b3e13016d7ecaaf3bfd5f91c974d3c0c77" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="999" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>An older generation of farmers are using any available fertile land to continue farming but it is getting more and more difficult. Photo: TAYLOR MASON </figcaption> </figure>  Nepal’s urban population grew rapidly from only 3.6% in 1991 to 25% today. There is large outmigration from the mountains to peri-urban areas of the Tarai, to Kathmandu Valley and Pokhara, with many young men then moving abroad for work. Kathmandu Valley’s population has swelled to nearly 3 million, and is growing at 6.5% a year. Dilip Shrestha, 71, used to work for Nepal Food Corporation, so he knew firsthand about inflation, shortages and vegetables with pesticide residue. So, when he designed his new house in Kathmandu, he built a spacious roof where he grows cucumber, ginger, garlic, coriander, onions, tomatoes, chili, beans, okra, pumpkin and lettuce. His family eats healthier, and he has reduced dependence on the market.&nbsp; The co-author of the Cell Reports Sustainability journal article, Daya Raj Subedi who is a PhD candidate at Beijing Forestry University, says urban agriculture also promotes inclusion and psycho-social wellbeing.&nbsp; He says, “A crucial finding of the study is the identification of opportunities and challenges associated with urban agriculture, it can promote sustainable transformation of society.” In Banepa, 55-year-old Bijaya Manandhar in her lifetime has watched the fertile farms of her neighbourhood that used to supply vegetables to Kathmandu, now completely built up with no open space left. The pandemic lockdown prompted her to turn to the family’s <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/rooftop-agriculture-on-the-roof-of-the-world">ancestral livelihood by growing food</a> not on terrace farms, but on the roof terrace. Manandhar is now a part of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/rooftop-agriculture-on-the-roof-of-the-world%5C%5C">कौसी खेती र करेसाबारी क्रान्ती</a> (Rooftop Farming and Garden Revolution) which has an online membership of 52,000, and awards annual prizes to women who excel in urban agriculture.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_7257f5def8f823f35a799fa6f6825e153f2ffa406ac11325d4fe74049b79e96d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20241019041052_7257f5def8f823f35a799fa6f6825e153f2ffa406ac11325d4fe74049b79e96d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="736" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>Rooftop farming is gaining popularity as a form of urban agriculture. </figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_beff1a4494ce896dd8fd383ee1f518e5448bcf7ea8bb138255391c7bcb9769ed.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20241019041052_beff1a4494ce896dd8fd383ee1f518e5448bcf7ea8bb138255391c7bcb9769ed" data-rendition-name="original" width="4000" height="3000" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> </figure>  Pradhan says the challenge now is to upscale such examples of successful urban agricultural practices so they support Neal’s efforts to meet SDG targets. He adds, “Crop cultivation around cities can be protected by land use plans and regulations. Promoting community-based agriculture, including rooftop gardens, requires community engagement and public-private partnerships across the food value chain.”&nbsp; Such support would accelerate the popularity of existing rooftop farming and community gardens in Kathmandu Valley, or kitchen garden initiatives in Pokhara, and building on traditional farming practices that are preserved and integrated into urban settings like in Bhaktapur and Banepa. In Lalitpur, the Women Entrepreneurship Facilitation Center promotes urban farming enhancing both sustainability and empowerment.&nbsp; Another co-author of the report, Yuanchao Hu from China says followup research of the team will aim to identify good practices in local urban agriculture practices. He adds, “There are examples of urban agriculture that optimise sustainability, ensuring that it remains a viable solution for cities globally while countries try to meet SDG targets.” Prajal Pradhan, Daya Raj Subedi, Kshitij Dahal, Yuanchao Hu, Prakriti Gurung, Sijal Pokharel, Sagar Kafle, Biplav Khatri, Sudeeksha Basyal, Monika Gurung, and Aruna Joshi. Urban Agriculture matters for sustainable development. Cell Reports Sustainability, 1:100217, 2024. [DOI: 10.1016/j.crsus.2024.100217] Prajal Pradhan (<a href="mailto:p.pradhan@rug.nl">p.pradhan@rug.nl</a>) This article is brought to you by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/" target="_blank">Nepali Times</a>, in collaboration with <a href="https://inpsjapan.com/en/" target="_blank">INPS Japan</a> and <a href="https://sgi-peace.org/" target="_blank">Soka Gakkai International</a>, in consultative status with UN ECOSOC.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240630110640_30c3782f9c09219bf1c249b51483a3cfb7a53a06d117d2aebd23ca7080d12758.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20240630110640_30c3782f9c09219bf1c249b51483a3cfb7a53a06d117d2aebd23ca7080d12758" data-rendition-name="original" width="680" height="103" loading="lazy" alt="SDG logo"> </figure>

Back to the land in the cities

The 700-year-old Lakshmi Narasingha temple in Bhaktapur houses a rare half-lion and half-human incarnation of Lord Vishnu carrying the Goddess Lakshmi. The temple was destroyed in the 1934 mega earthquake that killed 10,000 people and destroyed many monuments in Kathmandu Valley. It was rebuilt by a German project in the 1980s, but as a single-storey structure instead of its original two-tier pagoda design.&nbsp; With new findings from in-depth research, Bhaktapur municipality began re-restoring the temple in 2021, preserving its original architecture.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_2fae38cce543ad7b1f6de632feb3e212e08ed1acedd747830e949d7b8e878f18.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20241017131016_2fae38cce543ad7b1f6de632feb3e212e08ed1acedd747830e949d7b8e878f18" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  “Our temples and heritage sites hold deep meaning. It is disheartening to witness how often they lose their original elements, whether by design or accident,” explains Kumar Chawal of the Consumer Committee of Bhaktapur. “There is a need to preserve our architecture and protect its historical value for future generations. Otherwise, we risk losing a vital part of our identity.” The Laksmi Narsingha restoration is similar to the Bhai Dega temple in Patan Darbar Square which also collapsed in 1934, but was rebuilt with a Moghul-style dome by the Rana government at the time. Only two months before the 2015 earthquake, heritage conservationists had started to rebuild Bhai Dega as the original three-tier based on early photographs. But priorities shifted when four other temples in the square were brought down by the 7.8M earthquake on 25 April 2015.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_697ea707d9ad163be5de5f2efbf5b70d3cab771adcc22f0fae6bf937c6cb0130.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241017131016_697ea707d9ad163be5de5f2efbf5b70d3cab771adcc22f0fae6bf937c6cb0130" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  This showed how damage to monuments in Kathmandu Valley spanned from one earthquake to the next. Bhai Dega restoration remains half-complete to this day because money for its restoration ran out.&nbsp; Whereas Bhai Dega restoration was done by the Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust with grants from western embassies and international foundations, in Bhaktapur it is the municipality itself that allocated the Rs30.7 million needed to restore the Lakshmi Narasingha temple. The expected date of completion is early 2025. The municipality and local communities are focusing on two main aspects: preserving the past and promoting localisation. The restoration team has designed a blueprint for the temple by using historical photographs and insights from older generations.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_182882fdc393c99e70d1d0490319e415229563666c4934e3a582426ebf00ca30.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241017131016_182882fdc393c99e70d1d0490319e415229563666c4934e3a582426ebf00ca30" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="560" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  “At first, the Lakshmi Narasingha temple had only one entrance, but during the demolition process, we uncovered the foundations of four doors. Now, we are restoring all of them. This is an example of how our ancient structures have changed over time, often without our knowledge,” says Chawal. “Constructing temples is not like building houses. They carry historical and spiritual values, which is why they hold a special place in our hearts,” he adds. By replicating ancient design elements and rebuilding the temple as accurately as possible to its original form, the team has stayed true to Bhaktapur’s soul. But the restoration also revived ancient techniques that were in danger of being forgotten, generating employment for woodcarvers, masons, and contractors. The community of Bhaktapur’s Gahiti neighbourhood near the famous Nyatapola Temple has also set aside specific days for locals to volunteer in the reconstruction work. This has encouraged young people to take pride in ownership of their heritage. Families have also supported the effort by donating funds for bells, the temple pinnacle, and other structural features to the temple.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_db850ec0c084cdbe54f65bee92dad2ad8122d20fd60ec87ec086fbb9d2f72bd6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20241017131016_db850ec0c084cdbe54f65bee92dad2ad8122d20fd60ec87ec086fbb9d2f72bd6" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  “I feel at peace knowing I have contributed my sweat to restoring this temple,” said one volunteer. “It is our duty to preserve our temples and heritage. The Nyatapola area will look magical once this temple is completed.” Community mobilisation is a long-standing tradition in Bhaktapur. In the past, locals have actively participated in the restoration of other temples in the city, such as Bhairav and Nyatapola fostering a strong sense of ownership. This collective engagement has not only been crucial in preserving the city's historical monuments but also in strengthening the bond between local communities and their heritage, says officials at the municipality. While securing funding is essential, and the municipality showed it values heritage conservation, the Lakshmi Narasingha restoration is proof that active involvement and sense of responsibility of the local community is as important, if not more. Local involvement also means that the monuments will be cared for into the future, When locals take ownership of these efforts, the restored monuments are not only protected in the present but are also cared for in the future.