Mangaluru, May 22: In commemoration of 5th anniversary of the tragic air crash in Mangaluru International Airport, tribute was rendered to the deceased passengers at the Mangaluru International Airport here on Friday morning, May 22nd.
DK District incharge minister B Ramanath Rai, MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, DK Deputy Commissioner Adoor B Ibrahim, Joint Director of the Airport J T Radhakrishna, officials from various departments, and political head’s participated in the tribute ceremony.
Dark day in the history of Dakshina Kannada:
May 22nd, 2010, is a dark day in the history of Dakshina Kannada. In the Air India plane crash which occurred early morning In Mangaluru International Airport here, 158 passengers on board were charred to death within seconds and eight people had survived. The firm had given various assurances such as building a memorial in memory of the deceased in air crash, building community hall in Kenjar, building library and primary health centre in memory of the deceased in the tragedy, etc….but till now those promises are not fulfilled. Even the promise of extending the runway which was claimed to be responsible for mishap is also not implemented. Even a plaque depicting the names of the deceased in the tragedy erected in the place where the tragedy took place has been destroyed by some persons.
‘22/5 ‘park in memory of the deceased:
In the tragedy, bodies of twelve persons were unidentified. The district management had mass buried these unidentified bodies in an empty land near the side of the road which goes to Thannirubhavi beach.
The district management has requested the New Mangalore port trust to build a ‘22/5 park’ in memory of the deceased in this area which belongs to New Mangalore port trust. The NMPT has come forward to develop a park in this area at a cost of Rs 30 lakhs.
Addressing the media persons, DC Adoor B Ibrahim said the work on the construction of a memorial park for the victims of the crash will commence in a week’s duration. The blueprints and other things are ready and New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) and Mangalore International Airport (MIA) have also joined hands in this work.
The ‘22/5 park’ in memory of the deceased will come up near the Kulur bridge leading to Tannirbhavi.
About pending compensation to the victims of plane crash, DC said, only the cases in dispute which are in the court are pending. Families of all the other victims have received compensation.
