Radio Nepal is reducing the height of its Khumaltar-based transmitter tower to ensure air safety. The tower stands in the way of planes’ take-off route. “Radio Nepal is reducing its tower’s height to 45 metres from existing 97 metres,” said Mahendra Singh Rawal, director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).“The height has been creating trouble as it is on the secondary air route of Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA),” he said, adding that CAAN, Radio Nepal, and Qatar Airways have recently reached an agreement to reduce the height of the tower. Aeroplanes are compelled to fly carrying less weight than its capacity since they have to take height within a couple of minutes of take-off due to the tower in their route. The compulsion of reducing its weight is called load penalty.
Qatar Airways has provided Rs 20 million to Radio Nepal to purchase equipment to maintain its quality and CAAN has assured to pay the customs duty for import of equipment, Rawal said. “Radio Nepal is expected to reduce the height of the tower by this month,” he said.
The Radio Nepal Khumaltar transmitting station has three 100 kW shortwave transmitters.
(Source: Himalayan News Service/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)