June 13: The Biratnagar Airport Victims’ Struggle Committee organized a rally on Saturday and announced a demonstration to block the entrance of the airport. The committee decided to hold a street demonstration saying that the government has not paid them compensation for the land acquired for the airport even after two years.

A meeting of the committee also decided to give an ultimatum to the District Administration Office, Chief Minister's Office, Civil Aviation Authority Office and District Police Office to fulfill their demands within seven days. The committee informed about its demonstration through a press release on Sunday.

Individuals residing near the airport got agitated after the government blocked transaction of their land two years ago for upgrading the Biratnagar Airport and did not pay compensation to them. The meeting has decided to launch a street protests demanding the release of the blocked land or compensation.

The federal government had permitted the Civil Aviation Authority in 2077 BS to acquire 126.46 acres of public land to extend the runway of Biratnagar Airport from the 1,500 meters to 3,000 meters. Based on the decision, the authorities have blocked transactions of 1,400 plots of land including 350 houses since two years.

Keshe Magarati, a member of the Airport Victims' Struggle Committee, said that the government has not been able to compensate the victims even after blocking transaction of their land for two years.

If the house and land are not sold within a year, we will submit a memorandum to the local administration and related bodies within a week, then block the way to the highway and the airport.

The government has not allocated any amount in the current and next year's budget to compensate the victims.

 Uddhav Karki, a member of the struggle committee, said that the hope of compensation is dead as budget has not been allocated. "How long do we have to wait?" Karki said.

Santosh Khadka, a member of the struggle committee, complained that the government has allocated budget for the construction of Nijgadh Airport despite the Supreme Court’s orders, but hasn't allocated compensation to the people whose houses and lands have been blocked for two years, he shared.

Yuvraj Bhandari, information officer of the airport, said that the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal had asked the government for budget as compensation for the houses and land that fall in the project area in the current and previous budgets.

A tripartite agreement was signed which mentions that the federal government will pay 50 per cent, the state government 40 per cent and the Biratnagar Metropolitan City 10 per cent compensation for the land required to be upgraded to a regional level. CAAN's master plan is to upgrade the airport to a regional airport and operate flights to India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Malaysia.