April 13: COVID 19 lockdown has affected the construction of Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA) and Pokhara Regional and International Airport (PRIA).

Due to lack of essential equipment coming from foreign countries and shortage of construction material, these two international airports are being made with the limited available resources, said Rajan Pokharel, director general at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).

The construction has also been affected due to lack of workers. Currently, around 100 Nepali workers and 28 foreign workers have been working in GBIA.  “Earlier we had 200 workers. Now, the workers inside the camp are only engaged,” said Prawesh Adhikari, chief of the Airport Construction Project.

Similarly, shortage of cement which is imported from India has hit the construction of PRIA. Due to lack of equipment and delay in supply of other materials, the construction work has been affected, said Binesh Munkarmi, chief of the airport project. According to him, the equipment needed for the construction are stuck in Kolkata port.