BHAIRAHAWA, May 14 -- The construction works of Gautam Buddha International Airport have seen yet another hurdle. The airport, which expected to begin test flights from September, has now undergone a shortage of construction materials, while the payments to the contractor are also put on hold without any reason.

Butwal Sub-metropolis has barred extracting sands and aggregates from the rivers for the project since the last two months.

Swasam Construction Pvt Ltd, local supplier for the Chinese civil contractor Northwest Civil Aviation Airport Construction Group, was told not to extract resources from rivers for which the supplier has a valid agreement.

Meanwhile, the project administration has stopped making payments to the contractors ...