Jumla Airport opens after three days

By Our Correspondent, Jumla, Jan. 27: Jumla Airport has come into operation from Thursday after security personnel cleared the snow that had been blocking its runway. After nearly half a day of work, officers of the Nepali Army, Armed Police Force and Nepal Police were able to clear the runway and allow planes to land on Thursday. 

Rajiv Shrestha, acting chief of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal’s office in Jumla, informed that two flights, one each of Summit Air and Tara Air, landed at the airport Thursday afternoon. “This provided some relief to passengers who had been waiting for the airport to open for three days,” he said. Three days of incessant snowfall had made the airport unsafe for flights, leaving passengers flying between Nepalgunj and Jumla stranded.

Karnali Highway also reopened

The Kalikot section of the Karnali Highway was also blocked for some hours on Thursday after a four-wheeler got stuck in snow here. However, according to Chitra Chaulagain, information officer at the Division Road Office, Jumla, a bulldozer was able to remove the vehicle and reopen the road on the same day.