Nijgadh airport controversy

Nijgadh is one of the important place of Nepal lies in Bara district which covers the most importantly the Amazon of Nepal.

Currently, it is gaining importance as government has decided t construct a Nijgadh international airport which spreads in 1 sq. Km area. This area is selected from the heart of Nijgadh forest.

Governments decision to construct an international airport is a process of development and we should support it. But, if the construction is not sustainable and is harmful to us in varieties of aspects then we must not support it.

Carbon trade is today’s important source of no investment trade of Nepal. This trade is related to the carbon sequestration by the floras of forest in large quantity.

the project for Nijgadh International Airport got embroiled in a controversy after the environment impact assessment showed that more than 2 million trees would have to be cut down to build the facility. For the past year, environmentalists have been campaigning, arguing that the damage the project will cause to the environment and biodiversity would be irreparable.

Environmental and social impact of project

According to an environmental and social impact assessment carried out by the Tourism Ministry in February 2017, more than 2.4 million small and large trees will have to be felled to build the international airport in three phases.

In the first phase, the project will be developed on 2,500 hectares of the total proposed area. For this, 769,691 trees will have to be cut down. This environmental degradation of the area has drawn criticisms from various quarters.

The airport construction has a huge impact on biodiversity losses. It is a house of spotted deer, elephants, and 18-20 tigers also. They are well protected by the national parks but will have an irreparable damage on biodiversity.

Present status

Supreme court of Nepal has canceled the bill for the construction of nijgadh international airport because of the failure of the feasibility study as it has negative impact on environment but government is not willing to do so.

Yeah development is needed but destruction is not the solution. Here youths are fighting to make the environment sustainable. On each occasion environment cleanliness and tree plantation campaign has been conducted but the destruction of 2 million trees it not even a pinch of justice.

Say yes to sustainable development but not destruction.