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Locals form pressure group to expedite SIA, fast track
Locals of proposed Province 2 have taken to the streets to exert pressure on government authorities concerned to expedite the construction of Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track and Second International Airport in Nijgad, Bara.Shankar Acharya
Locals of proposed Province 2 have taken to the streets to exert pressure on government authorities concerned to expedite the construction of Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track and Second International Airport in Nijgad, Bara.
The locals—who have formed the Fast Track-Airport Construction Struggle Committee—have announced plans to organise various events over the next five-and-a-half months, and even go to extremes and organise a relay hunger strike if their concerns go unheard.
In the initial phase, the committee has launched door-to-door and signature campaigns, urging the locals of Bara, Parsa and Rautahat districts to support the cause.
The pressure group, which launched the campaign on November 22 under the theme of “Fast Track and Airport in Our Generation”, has been collecting Re1 from each of the locals. The fund collected will be handed over to the government as seed money to build the physical infrastructure.
The construction of the 76km fast track and the international airport in Nijgad is considered crucial for the country’s development. The expressway would cut travel time between Kathmandu and southern plains to an hour from the existing 8-10 hours, while the new airport would provide an alternative to the only single-runway international airport in Kathmandu, which is becoming more and more congested every day, resulting in flight delays.
Considering the importance of these infrastructure, the government had identified the two projects as national pride projects. But construction has not yet begun although the government had first floated the plan to build the fast track in 1991. The process of preparing detailed project report of the Second International Airport, on the other hand, had begun in 2010.
“The initiative taken by locals to exert pressure on the government is a positive step,” Pradeep Kumar Kedia, president of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said. “We have also long been demanding the projects of strategic importance be completed as early as possible.”
Expressing solidarity to the campaign, Kedia said Birgunj’s business community would extend every support to the pressure group.
Kedia made these comments addressing a gathering organised by the pressure group in Birgunj. The pressure group has reached Birgunj to collect signatures of locals and generate awareness about the importance of the projects.
The pressure group is planning to walk to Kathmandu from Nijgad beginning Friday to draw the attention of authorities concerned, according to Rabi Raj Dangal, coordinator of the committee.
On Sunday, it will hand over memoranda to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and leaders of different political parties, and organise a special programme at City Hall in Kathmandu, where a documentary on the two projects will be displayed.
The pressure group will organise interactions with stakeholders of different districts of proposed Province 2 from January 4 to February 3 to increase the number of committee members to at least 1,000.
If the pressure group’s demands are not met by that time, a relay hunger strike will be organised for 100 days from February 5 to May 14, Dangal said.