Railway project caught pace as soon as Prachanda became PM
According to the ORF report, within hours of Prachanda becoming Prime Minister of Nepal, a Chinese technical team arrived in Kathmandu on 27 December to prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Kathmandu-Kerung railway project. The main concern regarding the Kathmandu-Kerung railway is whether it has the potential to meet the interests of Nepal and China. Kerung is a small town located in Tibet. It is also known as Gyrong Town. Kerung is thousands of kilometers away from China’s capital Beijing or the largest industrial city Shanghai. In such a situation, many people will not travel from one country to another through this rail line. In the field of trade, Nepal imported goods worth Rs 233.92 billion from China in 2020, while Nepal exported goods worth just Rs 1 billion to China.
Rail line budget one fourth of Nepal’s GDP
It is estimated that the Kathmandu-Kerung railway line will cost the country US$8 billion. This budget is more than a quarter of the total gross domestic product (GDP) of Nepal. It will not be possible for a low income country like Nepal to repay the interest and principal amount for this project. Also, this proposed rail line will have to pass through the most remote area of the Himalayas, for which many bridges and tunnels will have to be built. In winter, there is always heavy snowfall in the Himalayas, which can disrupt rail services if the track is not cleared. Even if it is done, it will prove to be a costly project. Another challenge is the environmental impact of the project. In view of the huge cost involved in the construction of the project, the Sher Bahadur Deuba-led Nepali Congress government in Nepal sent a message to China in 2021 asking them to accept a project like the Kathmandu-Kerung Railway if it gets a grant under the Belt and Road Initiative. There will be no problem. In such a situation, the question is whether China will be able to give grant to Nepal for this railway line?
China opened border post closed for 3 years as soon as Prachanda became PM
On December 28, 2022, the third day after Prachanda became the Prime Minister, China opened the Rasuwagadi (Nepal)-Kerung (China) border. This border was closed since January 2020 at the beginning of the Corona epidemic. It is believed that this was a symbol of welcoming Prime Minister Prachanda. But, it is not yet known why China could not open the Tatopani border. The border has remained closed since 2015, when Nepal was worst hit by the earthquake. Similarly, other crossing points between Nepal and Tibet have not been opened though the border residents of both the countries are facing immense difficulties due to this. On the seventh day, January 1, 2023, Prime Minister Prachanda inaugurated the Pokhara International Airport in western Nepal in a grand ceremony. The airport was built in March 2016 with a loan from the China Exim Bank. It is the third international airport in China. China also has Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa and Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu.
Pokhara International Airport built in Nepal with the help of China
Unfortunately, there is no hope of Nepal’s Pokhara International Airport becoming operational. The airport has so far failed to reserve any foreign airline. Since, it has been built with Chinese loans, it is unlikely that India will allow any foreign airlines its airspace for this purpose. India has a clear policy that it will not consider any project built with Chinese assistance in Nepal. In such a situation, the fare from Pokhara International Airport will be worse than from Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa. Only Kuwait’s Jazeera Airways had agreed to operate international flights since Bhairahawa Airport began operations in 2022. Later he also stopped his service at this airport.
China preparing to bridge Nepal’s debt through BRI
It was only after the inauguration of the Pokhara International Airport on 1 January that it became mired in controversy. The Chinese Embassy tweeted a day before the inauguration, claiming that it was built as part of the BRI project. In such a situation, Pokhara International Airport is a key project of China-Nepal BRI cooperation. However, Nepal denied this claim of the Chinese Embassy. The Government of Nepal said that it was designed many years before the BRI was conceived. The detailed engineering work and the selection of the airport site in addition to the Pokhara International Airport master plan was prepared by the German consulting engineering firm DEWI by 1971. It was reviewed by JICA in 1988. Later, the Civil Aviation Department carried out a detailed engineering survey in 1993.
Two airports are not getting flights and Prachanda ready to make third
While inaugurating the Pokhara International Airport, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal courted yet another controversy. Addressing a program during the inauguration, he said that the government would construct a new international airport at Nijgarh at any cost. When the future of the recently built Gautam Buddha International Airport and Pokhara International Airport is uncertain, what is the point of building a fourth international airport simultaneously at Nijgarh? In this regard, the Supreme Court of Nepal has already ordered the government to rescind the decision to build a new international airport at Nijgarh. The Court argues that the $3.5 billion project has ignored its ecological cost by not conducting an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
