The Gautam Buddha International Airport project in Bhairahawa has been permitted to extract sand and gravel needed for its construction from the Tinau River using mechanical devices, raising hopes that the scheme will be completed within its revised deadline of June 2018.

The airport had been slated to be ready in December 2017. Shortages of fuel and building materials due to the months-long Tarai banda delayed the upgradation work by six months.

The national pride project has been envisaged to serve the fast-rising business and industrial hub of Bhairahawa and facilitate international pilgrimage tourism to Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha.

The project stalled after authorities forbade it to extract sand and gravel from local rivers using excavating equipment citing environmental concerns. The project could obtain materials using only hand tools.

“The District Develo-pment Committee has given us the green signal to mine river resources, and the project contractor will begin extraction work on Monday,” said Om Sharma, chief of the project. “It has become a big relief for us.”

The physical progress of the project was 25 percent as of October, Sharma said. “We have targeted achieving 50 percent progress by this fiscal year ending mid-July 2017.”

The project currently requires 500,000 cubic metres of sand and gravel. It plans to extract 100,000 cubic metres from the Tinau River.

According to Sharma, a 3,000-metre-long earthen runway has been prepared. He said that blacktopping would begin next September.

An international terminal building is being built and its ground level works have been completed. In the first phase of the project, the international terminal building will have a capacity to handle 400 travellers per hour. The airport will have six international parking bays.

“During the second phase of the project which will start after 10 years, the international terminal will be turned over to domestic use, and a new international terminal will be built,” said Sharma.

“The new international terminal will have a capacity to handle 1,300 people per hour, similar to Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport.” The airport will also have aerobridges in the second phase.

The planned airport will have a capacity to serve 760,000 passengers annually after the completion of the first phase of upgradation. The airport is projected to handle up to 2 million passengers in the second phase. After the airport is complete, it will be able to handle up to 6 million passengers annually.

Meanwhile, Sharma said that they would be inviting bids for the installation of a dedicated feeder for timely and effective execution of the project. “The Nepal Electricity Authority has decided to provide a dedicated feeder line for the project.”

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (Caan) awarded the contract to upgrade the airport to China’s Northwest Civil Aviation Airport Construction Group in November 2013.

Of the $90.6 million project cost, the civil works component is valued at Rs6.30 billion. The Asian Development Bank has provided $58.50 million ($42.75 in loans and $15.75 million in grants), the Opec Fund for International Development (OFID) will lend $15 million and Caan will bear the rest of the cost as counterpart funding.