Massive expansion planned for TIA

Note: This is news from a month ago.

Massive expansion planned for TIA
TKP, 14-Mar-2010
SANGAM PRASAIN

Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) has been marked for a massive infrastructural expansion project to enable it to provide high-performance and operational safety-based service as per international standards.

The TIA improvement project is being implemented in four phases and will give Nepal's only international airport a completely new appearance. Work is slated to be completed by 2028 and is expected to cost US$ 600 million.

The first phase of the project is being conducted with financial support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) of US$ 80 million (US$ 70 million in loans and US$ 10 million in grants) and is scheduled to be finished by 2015, said Prem Raj Lohani, project director.

By 2028, TIA will be expanded to 90,000 sq m. The airport is presently spread over 36,000 sq m with the international terminal occupying 32,000 sq m and the domestic terminal the rest.

As per the first phase of the expansion plan, the international terminal building will be built where a golf course currently stands, said Lohani. The present international terminal will be used to handle domestic flights.

TIA will have 12 new aircraft parking bays for international flights and 27 for domestic flights. Currently, there are 15 aircraft parking bays for domestic flights. Similarly, the runway will be lengthened to 3,350 m from the present 3,000 m towards the south.

The Nepal Army barracks will be relocated to the north side of the runway to make space for the expansion plan. TIA will also be equipped with advanced communication, navigation and fire fighting systems. The existing drainage, water supply and electricity supply will be upgraded.

The project has started the selection procedure for a consulting firm to do the project's detailed design and supervise the construction. On August 2, 2009, the project had short-listed six consulting companies from 25 countries. "We have asked for a technical and financial proposal from them," Lohani said.

The ADB grant assistance will also be utilised to upgrade Lukla, Simikot, Rara and other airports.

Pre-Melamchi project demands Rs 1.28 billion, says KUKL

Pre-Melamchi project demands Rs 1.28 billion, says KUKL
Nepalnews, 18-Mar-10

The Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) has on Wednesday said that some Rs. 1.28 billion is needed to complete the Pre-Melamchi Project in the capital.

Out of the total amount, Rs 620 million will be provided from the government, said Chandra Lal Nakarmi, Technical Manager of the KUKL while speaking at an interaction program organized by NGO Forum for Urban Water and Sanitation in the capital.

According to the KUKL, in the present scenario it is capable to distribute 140 million liters of drinking water per day in the valley whereas the demand stands at 320 million liters per day.

There are total 42 sub-projects under the Pre-Melamchi Project.

“It will take five years to distribute the Melamchi drinking water to the valley. So, the Pre-Melamchi project is important to address the rising demand of drinking water in the valley,” said Nakarmi adding,” The Pre-Melamchi project will be completed within two years which can supply more than 50 million liters of water per day.”

According to the KUKL, it will be in position to provide 170 million liters of water per day after the Melamchi Water Project is completed by the end of 2014.

By the year 2025 the KUKL said it would be enabled to distribute 510 million liters of drinking water per day in the valley.

The Pre-Melamchi Project and the Melamchi Project together can supply water every 2 hours a day to each household, claimed the KUKL.

Related Articles
Can Valley await ‘multipurpose’ Melamchi? (4-Jan-08)
Rs. 765m to be spent in Melamchi this year (6-Oct-07)

Woes at Tribhuvan International Airport

Snailport
Congestion at Tribhuvan International Airport
NepaliTimes, Issue #488 (05-Feb-10 to 11-Feb-10)
Dewan Rai and Suvayu Dev Pant

Long gone are the days of booking travel on weekly outbound flights.

International aircraft arrivals increased by 8.41 per cent and domestic aircraft arrivals by 19.72 per cent in the first nine months of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008. Currently, 25 international airlines operate 35 flights a day and there are eight domestic airlines and five choppers. Kingfisher and Alpine Air will soon join that fleet and three other foreign airlines hope to follow suit.

Yet there have been no major additions to infrastructure. "Our airport doesn't meet the requirements for an international airport, so it is very difficult to accommodate all the tourists," says Amar Bahadur Shakya of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).

There is one runway at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), no arrow bridge to connect docked planes directly to the terminal, and seven internal bays - when 23-25 are necessary - for just three wide-body and four narrow-body aircraft. Aggravating the air traffic congestion is the fact that most airlines prefer the 10am-5pm time slot, largely because Nepal's terrain makes flying at night dangerous. Inevitably, there have been flight delays.

Congestion within the airport has also increased. The number of international passengers increased by 9.63 per cent and domestic passengers by 35.15 per cent in the first 10 months of 2009, compared to the year before. Although the airport was designed for only 1000 passengers daily, the actual turnover today is close to 2000. Likewise, the departure lounge was designed for 350 but sees up to 1000 passengers daily. Congestion at the air terminal may even have contributed to the death of a Korean woman, of a heart attack, three weeks ago.

Such problems were anticipated long ago, but officials have been slow to respond. A master plan drafted in 1996 was never executed. But there is more movement now. The airport will operate 24 hours a day, in light of Visit Nepal Year 2010, and offer discounts to airlines that operate outside of the 10am-5pm slot. A Visual Flight Rules system will be installed, along with improved lighting on the central runway, to make night-flying safer. The domestic terminal will be refurbished and an area will be set aside for choppers.

There will also be changes to airport infrastructure to make room for more passengers. TIA's Managing Director Dinesh Prasad Shrestha says, "With assistance from the Asian Development Bank, TIA will be realigning the immigration and hand baggage checking areas to accommodate more passengers waiting to board. The waiting lounge will be expanded as well." It is hoped these projects will be completed within two years.

But a total overhaul of the Air Traffic Management (ATM) system may be necessary further down the line. Most airports around the world use analog technology to enable the surveillance, supervision and navigation of air traffic. However, the volume such technology can handle is nearing saturation point in Nepal, leading to a rise in the risk of accidents. "We must digitise ATM and use satellites, which have a wider, bird's eye view of air traffic, have a much higher saturation point, and could eliminate the mistakes that analog technology causes," says ATM expert Niraj Aryal.

Nepal stands to gain more from such changes than other countries because its geography and weather - which cause most domestic air crashes - make analog technology unreliable. Though ATM authorities are looking into this possibility, it will require huge investments and careful coordination with foreign governments.

Perhaps we're better off getting the basics right first.

Govt calls global firms for study of east-west railway

MyRepublic.com, 19-Feb-09
KIRAN CHAPAGAIN & PRABHAKAR GHIMIRE

The Ministry of Physical Planning and Works (MPPW) has called for expression of interest by international firms in carrying out a feasibility study on a Mechi-Mahakali Electric Railway Line, also known as east-west railway. The prime minister, in his second address to the nation on January 25, had directed the ministry to start work on such a study.

Hari Prasad Sharma, spokesperson at MPPW, said interested international firms which have experience working on railway construction, can apply by March 1. A notice to this effect was published on January 30. The ministry plans to begin the study work on the 1,200 km railway, which will connect the Mechi river in the east to the Mahakali in the west, by June 1. The plan is to complete the study work within eight months.

At present, the country has only one operational railway line, the 29-km Janakur-Jainagar Railway that links Nepal to India.

Meanwhile, MPPW has requested the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to float the government plan on feasibility study before bilateral and multilateral donors to canvas their help. A letter to this effect was sent to MoF on February 11.

“As construction of an electric railway is very ambitious and expensive for a country like ours, we requested the Ministry of Finance to seek interested donors for conducting a feasibility study,” Dhruba Regmi, joint secretary at MPPW who is overseeing the project, told myrepublica.com.

However, Krishna Gyawali, chief of Foreign Aid Co-ordination Division at MoF, said MoF has not approached any donors regarding the MPPW request on the proposed railway. He added that the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, Japan and Korea are possible donors for the project.

Sharma added that the feasibility study will prepare preliminary engineering designs for the railway, estimate the cost of tracks, bridges, overhead electric lines and a signal system among other things. Besides, it will also prepare modalities for project implementation.

In the annual budget for the current fiscal year, the government has allocated Rs 15 million for construction of an electric railway in the Tarai from Mechi to the Mahakali along with upgrading and widening a Jainagar-Janakpur-Bardibas rail line and carrying out a study for a Kathmandu-Pokhara line.

A pre-feasibility study of the railway system carried out by Promotion of Renewable Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Abetment (PREGA) in 2006 says that the proposed railway line could be constructed at an estimated cost of US$ 2.07 billion.

Work on Outer Ring Road to start mid-July

Work on Outer Ring Road to start mid-July
eKantipur.com, 4-Feb-08
POST REPORT

The government has decided to start construction of the 72-kilometer Outer Ring Road (ORR) in Kathmandu Valley from next fiscal year, which begins in mid-July.

Speaking at an interaction organized by Media Group Nepal in the capital on Monday, Suresh Prakash Acharya, chief of the Outer Ring Road Development Project (ORRDP), said consultations are going on with various donors for technical and monetary support for the project.

"We have decided to start construction work between Chovar and Satungal on our own from the start of next fiscal year even if there is no support from donors by then," he added.

Acharya, though, informed that the government of China has shown interest in constructing the ORR. A technical team from China recently came to Nepal to get information on the project.

Acharya said the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for a 26-km stretch of the proposed raod from Sandol to Thali is almost complete. "We will complete the DPR of the remaining 32-km stretch within this fiscal year," he said, adding that DPR preparation and construction work would proceed simultaneously.

The government started preparing the DPR for the project four years ago. So far, some Rs 20 million has been spent for the purpose.

He also said that the ORRDP has completed a Model Readjustment Plan for the road, study of intersection development on the road stretch, and technical evaluation and preparation of townscape along the proposed road.

The ORR is being constructed as a model for planned urban development in Kathmandu Valley. It aims to carry out planned urban development along the road's corridor of influence, which consists of areas within 250 meters on either side of the road.

"It would take some five billion rupees to compensate for land acquired for the road, while construction of a 50-meter wide road is also expensive," he added.

Besides four municipal areas, the proposed road will help connect 41 outlying Village Development Committees (VDCs) - 22 in Kathmandu, 44 in Lalitpur and 13 in Bhaktapur - with the main road network. Of the total road length, 35.08 km will lie in Kathmandu, 21.05 km in Bhaktapur and 15.80 km in Lalitpur district.

Officials believe that construction of the proposed road will greatly ease the Valley's worsening traffic situation as the road will have a Fast Lane, Slow Lane, Parking Lane, Cycle Lane, Green Belt and Footpath in parallel.

Speaking on the occasion, leaders of political parties cautioned that the land mafia would render permanent residents in the project-affected areas landless. They also urged the government to adopt measures to check unscrupulous land purchase and sale.

Can Valley await ‘multipurpose’ Melamchi?

Can Valley await ‘multipurpose’ Melamchi?
ArthaExpress.com, 4-Jan-08

The Melamchi Water Supply Project, which entered construction in 2001 with a completion target of 2006, is now expected to be completed in December 2012. The delay is hardly surprising.

Apart from facing repeated obstructions by Maoists during the insurgency, the project became a means for the king to settle political scores after his Feb 1, 2005 takeover. The project also became a means for donors to express their reservations over the king´s regime, through funding pullouts. And last year, the project was on the verge of collapse owing to ideological differences between the minister for physical planning and works and the project´s chief donor.

Now project officials have a new worry: Melamchi ´Multipurpose´ Project. Officials say the proposal to expand the Melamchi project through the incorporation of hydropower and irrigation components is an unnecessary distraction.

The proposal to expand Melamchi into a ´Multipurpose Project´ has been floated mainly by energy economist Ratna Sansar Shrestha. The proposal is not bad per se.

Shrestha has proposed that apart from the Melamchi River, water from Larke, Yangri and Balepi Rivers should also be channeled into the diversion tunnel that is to be built to pump water from Sindhupalchowk district to Sundarijal in Kathmandu.

Shrestha has reasoned that this would increase the volume of water reaching Kathmandu from the proposed 170 million liters daily to 1.2 billion liters daily. This volume would enable the building of two hydropower project - a 35-megawatt project downstream of the three rivers´ convergence with the Melamchi and a 190-megawatt project on the lower Bagmati.

Shrestha has proposed that the surplus water, once evacuated into the Bagmati, would clean that heavily polluted river and also irrigate 13,000 hectares of land in Rautahat and Sarlahi districts.

"This would ease the power crisis facing the country, and increase agricultural output in the tarai," Shrestha said.

Melamchi project officials and those watching the project closely say the expansion proposal threatens to delay progress on Melamchi, something that the Valley can ill afford.

"The idea of adding hydropower and irrigation components to Melamchi is an old one," said a key project official who preferred anonymity. "What is worrying is that people have been lobbying strongly for the expansion at a time when the design supervision consultancy for the tunnel, a major component of the project, is about to be awarded."

Norway´s NORPLAN and Finland´s JakkoPoyry are bidders for the approximately US $ 15 million consultancy. The Finnish company is certain to land it, project sources said.

"With lobbying for the project expansion gaining in strength, award of the consultancy to JakkoPoyry has come under threat," said one project source.

According to Geologist Dr Toran Sharma, who did the Environment Impact Assessment for the Melamchi project in 2001, there is no detailed study backing Shrestha´s proposal.

"Shrestha´s proposal is unclear on issues of social and downstream impacts as well as cost sharing," Sharma said. "The hydropower and irrigation projects are not a bad idea. But they can be developed as separate projects, and not as part of the Melamchi project. Melamchi in its current design and size does not hinder the development of hydropower and irrigation systems."

According to Sharma, deciding to expand the project at this point would mean a change in the project design. "This would delay the project as a new study would have to be conducted and the consultancy award process would need to be restarted," he said.

700 small water projects face crisis

700 small water projects face crisis
eKantipur.com, 11-Oct-07
BY THIRA L BHUSAL

Around 700 small, under-construction water supply projects, undertaken by district development committees (DDCs) are facing a serious crisis.

Unless the government makes a drastic move to expedite the work and increase budget accordingly, many of the projects will never be completed, say those aware of the current state of affairs. And, many other projects are likely to be completed only after the projects' lifespan has elapsed.

Nationwide 688 small projects are under-construction through DDCs. The district bodies have a hand in altogether 944 such projects - 324 initiated by the DDC's, and the rest handed over to it by the Department of Water Supply and Sewerage (DWSS). The DDCs have already completed 256 projects.

More than 100 projects have been under construction for over 10 years, while another 518 projects have been under-construction for around five years.

Though each project's lifespan is estimated at about 20 years, no official can say when they would be completed.

If such projects cannot be completed within three years from the beginning, their utility decreases while construction cost rises each year. "Therefore, before releasing budget we strictly insist on the completion of a project within three years," said Jagdish Sharma, engineer at Department of Local Infrastructure Development and Agricultural Roads (DoLIDAR), the central technical department that coordinates the projects and provides technical manpower to DDCs.

Although DoLIDAR's priority is toward old schemes, it is rarely applied in practice at the local level. They rather start new projects as per the convenience and preference of local political leaders, according to officials.

A study made by DoLIDAR shows that an additional four billion rupees is required to complete these projects, but budget allocation is usually around Rs 400 to 500 million each year. The government has allocated 442 million rupees for the sector for the current fiscal year. "With such a budget allocation, another 10 to 12 years will be required to complete these projects, that too if no new project is initiated within this period," a DoLIDAR paper said.

The government handed over water supply schemes to DDCs as per the principle of strengthening local bodies and in accordance with the Local Self-Governance Act-1999.

Experts working in the sector opined that the DDC is the body that should oversee, coordinate, monitor and issue permission to work in the districts. "DDC should be powerful and it should have authority to give or deny permission to NGOs to work in the district. But that is not the case," said Santosh Basnet, Technical Development Manager of Nepal Water for Health (NEWAH), an NGO working in the sector.

In fact the DWSS should have been working as a small unit of experts to formulate policy guidelines while the DDCs should undertake all the work and responsibilities, Basnet opined.

Though everyone seems to be advocating the idea of decentralization and strengthening of the DDCs, in practice, the DWSS officials do not want to lose the dominance that they have been exercising for several years in the sector, said an expert preferring anonymity.

According to Senior Divisional Engineer at DoLIDAR, Kamal Jaishi, DoLIDAR is not as efficient and equipped as the DWSS because the latter's expertise is specifically for water supply while DoLIDAR has to oversee other fields of infrastructure development, such as - roads, bridges, irrigation, sewerage etc.

Director General of DoLIDAR, Dhan Bahadur Tamang said it was not DoLIDAR that was responsible for the present state of affairs of the projects. "When the DWSS handed the projects to us, they were already unmanageable," he said.

According to DoLIDAR, scarcity of technical manpower - mainly engineers and sub-engineers in the districts is another problem. Around 30 positions of engineers and around 50 positions for sub-engineers are vacant.

Rs. 765m to be spent in Melamchi this year

Rs. 765m to be spent in Melamchi this year
ArthaExpress, 6-Oct-07

The Melamchi Water Development Committee (MWDC) would spend Rs. 765 million this year to accomplish Melamchi Drinking Water Supply Project (MDWSP), an official at MWDC said.

The MWDC is a government body which operates MDWSP. Talking to media persons, Hariram Koirala, the executive director of the MWDC informed that the pre-qualification has been done for the tunnel construction and the rest process was going on.

According to him, the handover of the Nepal Water Supply Corporation would take some more months as the new provision has allowed the government to take time till January and the handover of the institution from the government to semi-government body will naturally take some time.

Koirala said that the project itself has completed only 18 per cent of the total project, however, in practice, it has made landmark progress in the project´s development.

The sum will be spent in road constructions, social uplift programs, environment management programs and social and environmental monitoring.

MDWSP is Rs 33.9-billion project that plans to bring a total of 170 million liters of water per day in the capital from the Valley of Melamchi after constructing a 26.5 km tunnel. The committee has expected that the project would complete by 2011.

Japan requested to fund international airport

Japan requested to fund international airport
eKantipur.com, 6-Oct-07

The government is requesting Japan to finance the proposed second international airport in Nijgadh, Bara district, said Prithivi Subba Gurung, Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation.

He said that Japan has responded positively, even though it has not taken a final decision on it. “In addition, we are in talks with some Korean parties for the construction of this airport, and they have shown interest to work under the concept of build-operate-own-transfer (BOOT). However, we have not given the nod as we are awaiting Japan's support,” he said.

He was speaking at the 44th annual general meeting (AGM) of the Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) Friday.

Madhav Ghimire, secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, said that budget constraints had emerged as a hurdle to putting in place the required infrastructure for the tourism industry. “The tourism sector needs at least 15 billion rupees during the three-year interim plan. Unfortunately, the budget allocated for the first year of the plan is only 600 million rupees,” he said. He also underscored the need to bring foreign investment into the tourism industry to fill the resource gap.

Pointing to the negative travel advisories issued by foreign embassies, he said that the tourism sector was embedded in the challenge to reverse them. On the national flag carrier, he said that the government was working seriously to restructure the ownership of Nepal Airlines Corporation to resuscitate the troubled carrier.

Dr Pushpa Raj Rajkarnikar, member of the National Planning Commission, said that various policies and projects related to tourism had remained unimplemented mainly because of a fund crunch. “To let the tourism industry to flourish at full pace, an end to the political instability is necessary,” he said.

Dhurba Narayan Shrestha, outgoing president of NATTA, said that despite the operation of new airlines and cessation of the conflict, there has been no expected growth in the tourism industry.

Meanwhile, the AGM of NATTA has unanimously elected a new executive body led by Ram Kaji Kone.

China to asphalt key highway bordering Nepal

China to asphalt key highway bordering Nepal
Xinhua , 26-Sep-2007

The asphalting of a section of a key highway in southwest China's Tibet which borders Nepal began on Tuesday.

The 141-km gravel road from Gangga to Nyalam in Tibet will be completely sealed in two years at a cost of 470 million yuan (62.6 million U.S. dollars).

It is expected that vehicle speeds will rise from 20 km per hour to 40 km per hour on the completion of the project.

Asphalting has already begun on a 42-km section from Nyalam to Zhangmu, a key land port in Tibet at a cost of 335 million yuan.

The Chinese section of the China-Nepal Highway, from Lhasa, capital of Tibet, to Zhangmu, will be completely sealed at the end of 2009.

The highway links Lhasa and Katmandu, capital of Nepal.

Yami's ambitious infrastructure plan

Yami's ambitious infrastructure plan
eKantipur.com, 20-Jun-2007

Minister for Physical Planning and Works Hisila Yami unveiled a "Vision Document" on Wednesday, setting out ambitious targets for massive expansion of road, water and sanitation and housing infrastructure in the country.

According to the document, which has set targets for the next one, three and 20 years, all settlements in the hills and plains will have road access at a walking distance of not more than four hours and two hours respectively by the next 20 years; the country's population will have cent percent access to drinking water by 2017; and all people will have concrete houses by the next 20 years. "My ministry arrived at this vision document through intensive discussion, and we will implement it," said Yami, talking to the Post.

12 district HQs to have roads in 3 yrs

The document has set a deadline of three years for connecting 12 more district headquarters by roads. The districts are Jajarkot, Manang, Mustang, Diktel, Solukhumbu, Dolpa, Mugu, Humla, Bajura, Bajhang, Bhojpur and Sankhuwasabha. Within the deadline, the government will also build "with priority" the Shahid Marg from Ghorahi to Thawang in Rolpa district.

Two railways, one from Birgunj to Haldiya via Raxaul-Calcutta, and the other from Birgunj to Katihar via Raxaul, will also be built by this time, Yami said. Additionally, at least 10 transit corridor points with China and 22 with India will be developed. The 1,700-km mid-hill highway will also be developed during this period.

In Kathmandu, the inner ring road will be built, study and design for an outer ring road will be completed, and several corridors, including Bagmati, Bishnumati, Manahara and Dhobikhola corridors will be built. The ministry will repair 4,200 kilometers of existing roadway in one year alone.

Drinking water for all by 2017

While targeting completion of Melamchi project on time, the ministry has said it will promote rainwater harvesting at the household level in Kathmandu.

In one year, some 350,000 people will be provided basic drinking water through completion of some 80 ongoing projects, while an additional 145,000 people will be provided quality drinking water through completion of another 10 projects under Small Town Drinking Water and Sanitation Program.

Similarly, with construction of water treatment plants in Dhulabari and Gauradaha in Jhapa, and Mangad in Morang, 65,000 more people will be supplied quality drinking water.

Meanwhile, in the next three years, 1.6 million Nepalis will be supplied with basic drinking water through completion of 269 projects; 415,000 Nepalis will be supplied quality water in small towns; while another 700,000 people in 21 districts will be supplied basic drinking water. Within this period, an additional 2.5 million people will have access to sanitation facilities.

By 2017, the government plans to provide cent percent access to drinking water to the country's population.

Concrete houses for all in 20 yrs

By the next three years, 15 model villages will be developed in the country, while 4,000 low-cost houses will be distributed to poor families. Settlements will be arranged for all squatters and Kamaiyas within this period.

Meanwhile, in the next 20 years, satellite towns will be developed around Kathmandu Valley to ease population density here. By this time, all people will be settled in concrete houses through implementation of a National Housing Plan.