The Parliamentary Good Governance and Monitoring Committee on Thursday directed the government to shut emergency gate of Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu amid suspicion that it has allowed people to engage in illegal activities in the sensitive area without getting caught.

Last year, a team of the Home Ministry had locked the emergency gate; however, the lock was later broken. 

On Thursday, more than a dozen lawmakers led by the committee’s Chairman Mohan Singh Rathore inspected the airport amid concerns and criticism over the airport’s security.

Many vulnerable loopholes remain in the airport’s no-go or sterile area due to management problems. 

Recently, the Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police had seized 33kg gold from TIA that had passed undetected through the customs.

The committee has also directed the government to install X-ray machines on the VIPs passage. 

TIA has been gathering ample criticism over the past few years, and a number of independent surveys have put it among the worst airports in the world. Last year, a fact-finding committee of the Tourism Ministry had also uncovered varied security problems at the country’s sole international airport.