Maintain zero risk at airport, depot immediately

If the same plane had taken off from north to south and had an accident of a similar nature, it could have hit the fuel depot inside the airport. Taking off from the south also resulted in loss of human life, but if it was done from the north, the damage could have been many times more than that. In addition to Sourya Airlines, Turkish Air or US-Bangla aircraft, which have been involved in accidents within the airport for a decade, also avoided hitting the depot. But the signal and message given by these accidents is clear - if the current fuel depot is kept as it is, there will be a possibility of catastrophic damage.

According to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards, the taxi-way should be 172.5 meters away from the airport runway. Fuel should be stored at least 90 meters away from it. But there is a fuel depot at a distance of about 80 meters from the runway of Tribhuvan International Airport. There are 6 vertical tanks and 8 underground tanks with 7640 thousand liters of aviation fuel. Usually, the accidents that happen inside the airport happen during 'take off' or 'landing'. In such a case, there is always a possibility that the aircraft will skid and hit the depot. On the other hand, in any plane crash, fuel fires often result in the death of passengers. But what if the plane hits the 7.6 million liters of fuel stored inside the Tribhuvan Airport? Certainly, it involves not only the plane and the airport, but also the people of the surrounding settlements who have nothing to do with it, even the road travelers. If it doesn't, it will be a terrible accident.

Assessing this risk, the Nepal Civil Aviation Authority conducted a study with the aim of moving the fuel depot in accordance with ICAO standards. According to a study conducted in 2018, an investment of Rs 6 billion is needed to relocate the air fuel depot. The cost may increase slightly as per the price increase. In a study conducted by Germany's Hansa Consultancy on the transfer of aerial fuel, the pitted area near the golf course at Guhyeshwari is considered best for transfer of fuel storage. However, due to disagreement between the authority and Nepal Oil Corporation, this work could not proceed. Now the land where the depot is located belongs to the Corporation. He has a tank on his 32 ropani land. Although the authority has ensured that around 50 acres of land will be provided to the corporation for the new location, the process has not been started due to disagreements between the two bodies regarding the land transaction and the manipulation of interest groups. Instead, the authority has accused the corporation of not paying any attention to the letter it sent to the corporation. On the other hand, the corporation has alleged that they are ready to move the depot, but since the authority did not give them the land, they could not even do the DPR. There is a possibility that this urgent work will be pushed due to accusations and counter-accusations between the two bodies.

The controversy over moving the depot is also linked to the efforts of interest groups to kill contracts of large amounts in addition to the lack of coordination and understanding. In addition to trying to get the contract, there is also a struggle over whether the Nepali company should take over the contract or give it to an external company. As, the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is also interested in the depot relocation contract.

Industry, Commerce and Supply Minister Damodar Bhandari has also offered financial and technical support for the relocation of the depot while participating in the BIMSTEC Business Summit 2024 held in New Delhi recently. In this way, if there will be confusion about who will invest, who will get the contract, and if the manipulation of interest groups will continue, this issue will be unnecessarily debated. It only facilitates unnecessary disputes and recriminations in depot transfer work. Therefore, government coordination is necessary. But Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has instructed to move the depot in Thankot in the meantime. There is no study, recommendation of the committee or the demand of the local people in such a matter, even in the leadership of the Prime Minister, there is a suspicion of manipulation of land. It is more relevant for him to play a role in ending the dispute between the two agencies for moving the Tribhuvan airport depot than giving instructions regarding Thankot.