Emergency gate at TIA told to shutdown

The Parliamentary Good Governance and Monitoring Committee on Thursday directed the government to shut emergency gate of Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu amid suspicion that it has allowed people to engage in illegal activities in the sensitive area without getting caught. On Thursday, more than a dozen lawmakers led by the committee’s Chairman Mohan Singh Rathore inspected the airport amid concerns and criticism over the airport’s security. Last year, a team of the Home Ministry had locked the emergency gate; however, the lock was later broken. There are many vulnerable loopholes in the airport’s no-go area due to management problems. Recently, the Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police had seized 33kg gold from TIA that had passed undetected through the customs. The committee has also directed the government to install X-ray machines on the VIPs passage. TIA has been gathering a lot of criticism over the past few years. According to different surveys done so far TIA has been among the worst airports in the world. Last year, a fact-finding committee of the Tourism Ministry had also uncovered varied security problems at the country’s sole international airport. TIA is also considered as one of the most corrupt places in the country.