Seven years ago, Bhagarathi Bohara and her family were displaced from ward 7 of Shuklaphanta Municipality in Kanchanpur district due to the expansion of the Mahakali Irrigation Project. Their five-room concrete house and 13 kattha of land were lost to the irrigation canal that entered the area through Tanakpur and Banbasa. After three years of hardship in a makeshift thatched house, the family moved to Geta, near the Dhangadhi Airport, in 2021.

Ironically, the very year the Bohara family resettled, the government announced plans to upgrade Dhangadhi airport by acquiring 258 bigha of land. Four years on, Bhagarathi once again faces the threat of displacement. “We could be evicted at any time. If the government allocates a budget, the expansion work could start immediately,” she said.

Bohara’s five-room house, which is around 500 metres from the airport, remains unfinished, as the family hesitates to invest in a property they may soon have to vacate. “We started building but haven’t finished. We don’t know when we’ll be forced to move again,” she complained.

Bhagarathi’s story reflects the growing anxiety among hundreds of families living near Dhangadhi Airport. Many locals, living just outside the airport’s designated boundary, have been caught in a long-standing limbo due to the uncertainty surrounding the airport’s expansion. They filed a complaint at Sudurpaschim Province Office of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) stating that the locals are hugely affected as the government’s plan to upgrade the airport was left in limbo.

On May 29, a group of affected residents, led by Lal Bahadur Mahara, filed a formal complaint with the NHRC. They accuse authorities of moving forward with airport development plans without consulting local communities. “Government officials, including ministers, visited and announced the project without ever talking to us,” Mahara said.

Indeed, the airport expansion was first publicly discussed by then tourism minister Yogesh Bhattarai in 2019 and later by minister Prem Bahadur Ale in 2021. Since then, while a detailed project report (DPR) was prepared, no compensation plan or clear communication has followed.

The petition submitted to the NHRC cites violations of several constitutional rights, including the rights to property, food, housing and women’s rights. “The announcement of the project created psychological fear among residents,” reads the complaint.

Locals say that basic services like housing, education, healthcare and access to banking have been directly affected. “We can’t sell our land or build new structures. Even financial institutions refuse to accept our land as collateral,” complained a resident.

Lokraj Bhatta, coordinator of the Geta Airport Settlement Coordination Committee, echoed the same. “We thought living near the airport would be a benefit. Now it feels like a curse. The land here is practically unusable. Banks won’t accept it as collateral,” he said. Bhatta said while private buyers might pay a reasonable price, the government undervalues land when acquiring it for the airport. “We’ve raised this issue with various authorities, but no one takes it seriously,” he added. According to him, over 460 households of Dhangadhi Sub-Metropolitan wards 11 and 13 and Godawari Municipality ward 5 are affected.

In 2021, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) decided to allocate Rs1 billion for the airport expansion but the budget was not released. The CAAN had planned to acquire 250 bigha of land and extend the runway from 1,800 to 2,500 metres.

According to Vidhya Sah, information officer of Dhangadhi Airport, lack of funding has stalled the land acquisition progress. The new federal budget for the upcoming fiscal year of 2025-26 also does not include budget allocation for the airport expansion.

The master plan, approved by the CAAN in the fiscal year of 2020, envisions modern facilities such as a 45-metre-wide runway, advanced terminal building, apron, hangars, helipads, cargo facilities, fuel stations, fire stations, rescue services and a circular road. But locals are left wondering whether the vision will ever materialise—or if they’ll be evicted without support.

“We just want the government to decide quickly,” said one frustrated local. “If they want us to move, they should compensate us at market value. Otherwise, let us live here in peace. We can’t keep living in fear.”

Ganesh Bahadur Singh, chief at the airport, admitted that no significant steps have been taken regarding the airport expansion. “There’s no budget, so nothing has moved forward,” he said. He added that he wasn’t in-charge when the DPR was prepared, so he couldn’t speak about whether locals were consulted at the time. Singh acknowledged that property valuation for government acquisition is typically lower than the market rate.

“Government rates are always lower. People expect market prices, which we can’t offer,” Singh asserted. He also stated that while some banks may hesitate, the airport authority has not issued any directive preventing banks from accepting land as collateral.

As government inaction continues, hundreds of families remain trapped in a cycle of uncertainty. Without clear communication, fair compensation, or a timeline, the Dhangadhi Airport expansion remains not just a stalled infrastructure project—but a human rights concern.

NHRC Sudurpaschim Chief Prakash Dutta Bhatta confirmed that the commission had received the complaint. “We will conduct on-site monitoring and interact with affected individuals,” he said. “No project should violate the constitutional rights of citizens.”