Bhairahawa, April 11 : Construction works have halted at the Gautam Buddha International Airport here due to the shortage of the river-based construction materials. The airport is being expanded into an international airport and it is a national pride project.    
The construction company has said works have been halted at the airport for shortage of construction materials as it could not extract aggregates from the riverbed due to the lockdown announced by the government for prevention and control of COVID-19.    
It is said only 10 per cent of construction works remain to be completed at the airport. Ninety percent works including the construction of the runway, the international terminal building, taxiway, control tower and rescue and fire-fighting facilities and installation of CCTV and some technical equipment, have been completed.    
Construction of the airport perimetre road, and RCC laying on the portion between terminal and apron and installation of equipment remains.    
The airport construction deadline was until March 31, 2020. The Chinese construction company, North West Civil Aviation Construction Company, is constructing the international airport. The construction company was awarded the contract in December 2014. The total estimated construction cost of the airport is Rs 6 billion 225 million 120 thousand 227.    
Although representatives of the construction company and the Butwal Sub-Metropolitan City reached an agreement last month allowing the construction company to extract the aggregates required for the project from the Tinau River, this has been halted due to the lockdown, Airport construction project chief, Prabesh Adhikari, said.    
He said although 29 Chinese technicians and 80 Nepali workers are ready to carry out the remaining construction works by remaining in quarantine, this has not been possible due to the shortage of river-based aggregates.    
It is estimated that the airport construction will prolong by nearly a year if the construction company is unable to extract the river-based construction materials within mid-June this year.    
The project completion deadline has been already extended four times before this, citing various reasons as the Madhes movement, the border blockade by India and internal causes.