Gelephu + Airport = “Hub of Hubs”
7 April, 2008 - Of the numerous development strategies outlined in the draft 10th plan, building an international airport in Gelephu seems to have caught the attention of many people.
The possibility of an airport in Gelephu was talked about even before the plan was drafted and people residing in urban towns and cities have bought land in Gelephu, the cost of which has been escalating over the years. The plan, which requires further deliberation in parliament, even if approved, would still remain uncertain unless international donors, particularly Bhutan’s major development partner, India, would be willing to render financial support.
According to the draft plan, the government would require about Nu 2.826 billion to develop and construct the Gelephu airport, which would be just about 150 metres from the Indian boundary, said GNH commission officials.
During the National Planning Symposium held this week in Thimphu, the GNH commission secretary, Karma Tshiteem, said that should the plan materialise with consonance from the members of the parliament and budget approval from the donor agencies, Gelephu would be developed into a “hub of hubs”.
International air transport activity in the country, he said, was confined to Paro airport, which could barely accommodate increased passengers resulting from additional flights operated during peak tourist seasons.
“Paro is good for today’s traffic,” said Karma Tshiteem, who was talking to some 160 or so planning officers and gewog administrative officers from across the country.
But Gelephu, he explained, had the space for expansion and prospects for another booming industrial estate, which shared borders with Indian states, facilitating trade. It was also centrally located compared with other urban centres. With the internal road network also included in the plan, he pointed out that the journey between Gelephu and neighbouring dzongkhags was expected to be just a day-long drive.
In response to one of the participant’s concerns that the country was building castles in the air by incorporating such an ambitious project in the plan and whether the country’s limited hotels would be able to handle the sudden influx of tourists, if the plan came through, the secretary pointed out that such issues were debated time and again in the past.
“I think we should begin somewhere or we’ll always be immersed in similar debates,” said Karma Tshiteem. Hotels and accommodations, he added, would mushroom automatically with the coming of the airport. “If we simply stick to feasibility, nothing is worth implementation,” he said.
Gelephu, he said, shared borders with other dzongkhags of the country, which were endowed with parks and other tourist attraction sites. “We could take the business of other nearby airports,” he said.
On concerns that security could be an issue as Gelephu shared borders with the Indian state of Assam, Karma Tshiteem said that the country needed to take certain calculated risks if it was to further development.
Source: Kuenselonline