The construction of Sagarmatha Airport, which began in Jogidaha, Triyuga Municipality-1, Udayapur, has been delayed despite being initiated 12 years ago. The process to establish the airport originally started over three decades ago, with debates on whether to build it in Gaighat, the district headquarters, or Triyuga Municipality-7, Chuhade.
According to Birendra Basnet, the chairman of the Sagarmatha Airport Construction Committee, the process to build the airport in Jogidaha began 12 years ago after the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation deemed the area suitable for an airport. Initially, land was made available by the Udayapur District Forest Office and 17 families from Jogidaha’s Mothyai area, who offered their land without compensation to support the construction. In 2010, a technical team from the ministry conducted site and environmental assessments. Of the 156 hectares allocated for the project, 10 hectares belonged to residents, while the remainder was provided by the District Forest Office.
In 2021, land from the forest and local owners was officially allocated for the airport, and tree felling began, according to committee member Rudra Adhikari. So far, 13,000 trees have been cleared from 105 hectares of forest land. The committee reports that around NPR 30 million has been spent on tree removal and land leveling.
Despite the progress, construction has been stalled again just as work on the airport’s control tower was about to begin. Committee members express frustration over the repeated halts in construction, with Member of Parliament Dr. Narayan Khadka calling the latest delay a misfortune for the residents of Udayapur. He remarked, “After 12 years, construction had just started, but complaints filed with the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority have caused the work to stop once more.”
According to Basnet, the Ministry of Civil Aviation legally acquired the land for the airport, and the government allocated a budget of NPR 60 million for the project last year. However, the budget remains unused and has been frozen. Basnet also noted that initial efforts to build an airport in Udayapur date back to 1975, when the then-member of the National Panchayat, Chakra Bahadur Basnet, first proposed constructing an airport at the current location of the Tharuhat Stadium in Gaighat.
Local land donors, such as Krishna Pradhan, expressed disappointment over the delays. “I happily donated seven kattha of land for the airport, hoping to see planes fly from my village. It’s disheartening to see the project stuck after all this time,” Pradhan said. Another land donor, Harkaman Pradhan, shared his frustration, stating that the promises of an airport have only led to disappointment.
Former Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Sudhan Kirati, acknowledged the delays, citing technical challenges as a potential cause. He confirmed that NPR 30 million had already been spent on the project.
According to the technical plans, the airport will feature a runway 1,400 meters long and 60 meters wide, designed to accommodate medium-sized aircraft. The project has an estimated budget of NPR 1.2 billion.
Once operational, the airport is expected to significantly improve connectivity for residents in southern Udayapur, Sunsari, Khotang, Bhojpur, and Sindhuli, as well as northern Siraha and Saptari districts.
