By Anup Ojha in The Kathmandu Post, June 22, 2023
A dispute between the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) and the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) over a piece of land has escalated to a new level.
The dispute started after CAAN barred the KMC from developing a park for children and elderly on a piece of land at Sinamangal. Later, the municipal police led by its chief Raju Nath Pandey reached the area and removed the fencing wire on June 15.
“The mayor sent his municipal police in a ‘filmy style’, and cut the fence of the international airport,” said CAAN spokesman Gyanendra Bhul. “This is such a sensitive zone and the KMC has taken an irresponsible step without notifying us.”
CAAN officials claimed that the aviation body has 189 ropanis [1 ropani is 508.74 square metres] of land in its own name in the area and that the place near the airport cargo building where the KMC tore down the fence to make a park falls under plot 30 [in government land records] and is spread over 14 ana [1 ana is 31.8 square metres] of land.
However, KMC officials say CAAN raised this issue only after the metropolis issued a 35-day deadline to CAAN to submit a design of the under-construction building near the international airport at Sinamangal.
The City had published a notice on June 7 giving CAAN 35 days to register and pass the blueprint of the building.
The KMC officials alleged that the aviation authority has been indifferent to getting the blueprint approved.
“We still have time, and we will soon seek approval for the building design from the KMC, but the way the municipal police tore down the fence is totally unacceptable,” said Bhul.
On June 16, CAAN sent a letter to the mayor’s office seeking clarifications from Balendra Shah, ward 9 chair Ramji Bhandari and municipal police chief Pandey over the tearing-down of the fence.
“If the KMC doesn’t respond, we will be taking appropriate legal action against the mayor and his officials who were involved in the incident,” said Bhul.
In its letter to the KMC, CAAN has accused Shah of sending the municipal police to cut the fence of the Tribhuvan International Airport. “As your involvement is seen in the act, why should you not be punished under section 7 of Nepal Civil Aviation Authority Act, 1996, based on section 25 (1) of the Act,” reads the CAAN’s letter to the mayor.
Besides Shah, CAAN has also sought written clarification from municipal police chief Pandey and ward 9 chair Bhandari within a week from June 16.
Section 7 of the Act talks about prohibition, while section 25 mentions punishment of the offence.
“If anybody does anything regulated or prohibited by CAAN pursuant to Section 7 without obtaining prior permission from it or contrary to any terms, if any prescribed by the Authority in the course of granting permission, the Authority may subject such person to a fine up to fifty thousand rupees,” reads the section 25 of the Act.
Five days after CAAN sought clarification from them, Mayor Shah, ward chief Bhandari and Pandey moved the high court on Wednesday.
They have filed a writ petition at the Patan High Court demanding the invalidation of CAAN’s call for clarification. They have also asked the court to order CAAN not to create obstruction in KMC’s work.
The petition, filed on Wednesday, states that the aviation authority’s letter seeking clarification from them is invalid, unconstitutional and beyond its jurisdiction.
The petition, with the trio as plaintiffs, has named CAAN and its director general as defendants. It has also claimed that maintaining and protecting unoccupied lands, and developing recreational parks on such lands falls under the jurisdiction of the ward office, and the KMC, respectively, and demanded that the court order the defendants not to bar the KMC from working at the site.
“We request the court to order the defendants not to obstruct the park construction work being carried out by the metropolis on the land,” reads the notice.
The petitioners have also demanded an interim order for the same.
Bhoop Dev Shah, personal secretary to Mayor Shah, said the land occupied by nearly half a dozen squatters was cleared before deciding to develop a park there.
“It’s the KMC’s primary duty to protect public land, and we tried to convert the area into a park. But the authority fenced the area overnight even without informing the KMC,” said Shah.
Meanwhile ward 9 chair Bhandari told the Post that the area had long been neglected. “But when we tried to develop a park, the aviation body erected a fence there overnight,” he said.
https://kathmandupost.com/valley/2023/06/22/kathmandu-mayor-and-civil-aviation-body-fight-a-turf-war
Most tunnel road projects get budget to satisfy politicians’ whims, officials say:
By Prithvi Man Shrestha in The Kathmandu Post, June 22, 2023
The government has announced plans to build nearly two dozen tunnel roads in the country after the start of the first tunnel project at Nagdhunga, the major entry point to Kathmandu.
Officials at the Road Department however said that the majority of them were included in the budgetary programme because of political pressure.
Besides Nagdhunga, the government has allocated a budget for various tunnel projects, a flyover, an underpass and supervision of some projects whose combined number is 23, according to the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport.
Budgetary allocation was made under the government’s Tunnel Road Development Programme for the fiscal year 2023-24. Gwarko-Satdobato-Ekantakuna flyover and New Baneshwar underpass plans have also received budgetary allocation.
The majority of these tunnels and related projects are in the study phase, with the government allocating Rs1.94 billion for them, according to the ministry. The Nagdhunga-Naubise tunnel is being built as a separate project. The government has allocated Rs5.12 billion for this in the budget for the next fiscal year, according to the finance ministry.
“Except for a few of the proposed tunnels, the majority were included to serve political interests,” said Sushil Babu Dhakal, director general of the Department of Roads. He, however, didn’t specify which projects had come under political influence.
Department officials say that inclusion in the budget is no guarantee that all of them will be built. Studies are essential to show the projects are feasible technically and financially, said Dhakal.
Given the high cost, the government is incapable of financing all the proposed tunnel roads, Dhakal said.
“It is true that tunnel roads help reduce travel time and people benefit but there are also questions if all of them should be built because of the high costs involved.”
Department officials said that among all the under-construction and proposed projects, Nagdhunga tunnel road, Tokha-Chhahare and Siddhababa tunnel roads have received greater priority in the next fiscal year.
According to the physical infrastructure ministry, Tokha-Chhahare tunnel road has received Rs1.25 billion out of the total 1.94 billion under the Tunnel Road Development Programme. The budget was allocated for study and construction of the project next year.
However, the detailed project report (DPR) and the environment impact assessment (EIA) reports for the Tokha-Chhahare road are yet to be prepared.
Presenting the budget, Finance Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat said the budget has been allocated for the project to start construction after completing the DPR and the EIA.
Officials doubt if the construction could begin next fiscal year. “There is a high possibility that budgetary resources allocated for the project will not be spent in the next fiscal year,” said another road department official.
In October 2019, Nepal and China signed a memorandum of understanding to build two stretches of the road, which connects Kathmandu and Rasuwagadhi.
The Chinese side had conducted a pre-feasibility study after the MoU was signed, officials said. There are doubts if the project would go into implementation next fiscal year with preparatory works incomplete.
Mentioning projects in the budget without carrying out detailed feasibility studies is said to be the reason the government’s capital spending always remains poor.
Siddhababa Tunnel Road Project, whose construction has also begun, has received a Rs450 million budget. The finance minister said its construction would also be expedited in the new fiscal year.
Dharan Leuti Tunnel Road has received Rs5 million. “Construction has yet to begin,” said Dhakal.
Officials at the department said that Dharan Leuti Tunnel is important to shorten the road distance. “But it is difficult to build it with domestic resources,” said Bijaya Joshi, chief of the foreign aid implementation division at the road department. “Siddhababa Tunnel road will not significantly cut the road distance, but it is important because landslides regularly block the road there.”
Most important of all tunnel projects is the one through Nagdhunga-Naubise, according to officials. In October 2019, the then prime minister KP Sharma Oli inaugurated the project and construction began in early 2020.
The project was supposed to be completed in three and a half years from the date of implementation. But it bore the brunt of Covid pandemic followed by a shortage of construction materials a few months ago.
As of June 18, 85.7 percent of the tunnel work has been completed while 35.9 percent of concrete lining work in the main tunnel is over, according to the Nagdhunga Tunnel project. Likewise, 11 out of 12 structures have also been completed, it said.
Overall physical progress of the project stands at 55.13 percent, according to the progress report. “We hope to complete the tunnel excavation work by August,” said Joshi.
While the Nagdhunga Tunnel Project was envisioned to reduce traffic congestion at the gateway to Kathmandu, most other projects were proposed by lawmakers to serve political interests, officials said.
“A small budget has been allocated to study the feasibility of the proposed tunnel roads,” said Joshi. “It does not mean that all will be feasible, but a study will help bring potential investors.”
https://kathmandupost.com/national/2023/06/22/most-tunnel-road-projects-get-budget-to-satisfy-politicians-whims-officials-say
