However, unlike in the past, the locals will disrupt the flights only for four hours every day from September 25-28. Similarly, they will halt the flights for three hours every day from September 28-30. [break]
Earlier, the locals had brought aviation service to a complete standstill on August 21. Travel agencies had also supported the locals by not selling tickets to and from Pokhara.
According to Krishna Mohan Shrestha, coordinator of the struggle committee, the locals will halt all flights from 8 am to 12 am between September 25 and 28. Similarly, they will disrupt flights from 12 am to 3 pm between September 28 and 30. “If the government fails to take a positive decision, we will disrupt all flights on October 1,” he said.
The announcement of flight disruption comes after Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai urged the locals not to carry out any protest programs. Talking to media persons early this week in Pokhara, PM Bhattarai had assured the locals that he would soon take a concrete decision on the airport.
However, PM Bhattarai´s candid admission of legal and procedural problems has left the locals worried about the fate of the airport. Prior to PM Bhattarai, Finance Minister Barshaman Pun had also pointed out legal and procedural difficulties in the airport construction.
The government has acquired 3,106 ropanis of land in Chhinedanda of Pokhara to build the airport. Four decades after the acquisition of land, the government recently published a tender notice for the airport construction. However, since the amount quoted by the lowest bidder was higher than the government´s estimated cost, the project failed to take off.
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