POKHARA, Dec 8: Pokhara had long urged the government to construct an international airport, insisting on its necessity. After repeated appeals went unanswered, the city announced a protest in September 2012 and launched a relay hunger strike to press the government to begin construction.
Residents set up tents outside the main gate of the old Pokhara Airport and began a relay hunger strike that lasted nearly three months. The protest concluded on November 17, 2012. Over 85 days, 2,402 citizens participated in shifts—sometimes in three rounds a day, sometimes in two—culminating in the 153rd phase. Local political parties, tourism entrepreneurs, writers, educators, health workers and many others supported the campaign.
“Had there been proper oversight during the airport’s construction, this situation would never have arisen. Instead, suspicion has grown that those responsible for regulating the project were themselves seeking to profit,” one participant said.
Pokhara’s activism extended beyond hunger strikes. Locals also staged a picketing of Singha Durbar—the government’s main administrative complex in Kathmandu—and even halted flights at Pokhara Airport to intensify pressure. Ticket sales were disrupted and various civil protests were carried out until the government finally moved ahead with construction.
Airline companies making business plan for Pokhara Regional Int...
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Now, the Pokhara International Airport—built under relentless public pressure—has become the subject of a corruption probe. On Sunday, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed a corruption case alleging irregularities amounting to nearly Rs 8 billion. The anti-graft body has decided to prosecute 55 individuals, including five former ministers and ten former secretaries.
Earlier, concerns over irregularities had already surfaced. A parliamentary subcommittee had concluded that nearly Rs 10 billion had been misused in the project, identifying wrongdoing under 11 different categories. “Not only Pokhara International Airport—irregularities can occur in any major infrastructure project. This confirms the need for vigilance,” its report noted.
Expectations had been high among residents of Pokhara and the broader Gandaki Province. Once construction began, the tourism sector significantly increased investments, confident that the airport would open pathways to global tourism markets. But locals now lament that such a vital project became a hotspot for financial misconduct.
Basu Tripathi, a tourism entrepreneur who helped lead the hunger strike movement, said: “We staged hunger strikes to compel the government to build the airport. But it now appears that political leaders and senior bureaucrats turned it into an opportunity to enrich themselves. We demanded an airport—never the misuse of funds.”
He added that the filing of corruption charges against senior officials raises serious concerns.
From the outset, Tripathi recalled, the federal government was hesitant to build the airport. “We fasted for almost three months, halted flights, blocked roads—all to demand development. But senior officials turned our struggle into a money-making opportunity. They disrespected our movement,” he said, arguing that inadequate oversight enabled corruption to flourish.
“If the regulatory authorities had monitored the project properly, this situation would not have emerged. Instead, it seems those tasked with oversight were themselves looking for benefits,” he added.
Former FNCCI President Anand Raj Mulmi echoed similar frustrations. “That lengthy hunger strike by the people of Pokhara seems, in hindsight, to have simply opened the door for some to misuse funds,” he said. “Pokhara demanded an airport—not an opportunity for anyone to embezzle money.”
He added that long-standing questions over the project’s construction model, design and transparency were never adequately addressed, leading to the current crisis. “Pokhara International Airport became a money-making machine. It was built to challenge Kathmandu’s belief that Pokhara shouldn’t have an international airport—but now it appears it also became a site for personal gain. There has been systematic looting.”
Mulmi also noted that the airport still struggles to operate international flights due to unresolved technical problems. “Unless the recommendations of the Anil Kumar Sinha Commission are implemented, the airport cannot function properly.”
Businessman Bishwa Shankar Palikhe, who coordinated the airport construction stakeholders’ committee at the time, said irregularities began as early as land acquisition. “Pokhara has been betrayed. We pushed for the airport, but senior officials turned it into a source of personal earnings. A deeper investigation is still essential.”
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