State govt ignores a crash course

naeem@coastaldigest.com (Ronald Anil Fernandes, Deccan Herald)
September 19, 2011

airport

Mangalore, September 18: On May 22, 2010, Mangalore airport had the worst air crash in its 61-year history, when an Air India Express Boeing 737-800 aircraft from Dubai overshot the runway here and crashed into a 300-metre deep valley, killing 158 people on board.

At least 50 to 60 lives of flight AIE-812 could have been saved had fire tenders at the airport reached the crash site. They could not, because of the ramshackle state of the perimeter road around the airport. Precious six minutes were lost before the state-of-the-art crash fire tenders (CFT) reached the spot the crashed aircraft lying in the valley at Kenjar. Measuring 13 metres by 3.25 metres, they could not negotiate the hairpin curves on the perimeter road.

“Had the CFT reached the spot within two minutes as they should have, if not all, at least 50 to 60 passengers could have been saved,” say sources in the fire department, a view acknowledged by experts. Sixteen months later, things have not changed. The condition of the perimeter road is bad as ever, with more potholes. The hairpin curves remain and landslides on the road are posing more danger than ever before.

What if an aircraft overshoots the runway, again? The result will be similar or more disastrous as the perimeter road has been completely damaged. Thanks to the lackadaisical attitude of the authorities concerned, especially the State government, the crash fire tenders cannot move on the road even to this day!

According to experts, the best comparison that throws up the deficiency in the Mangalore crash is the post accident fire that destroyed the AFA 340 overrun at Toronto in Canada in 2005.

All the 305 on board survived due to the immediate rescue and fire fighting response; emergency response teams were reportedly on site within 52 seconds of the crash occuring.

“Lessons from the tragic AIE-812 crash, if ignored, will result in more accidents,” says a former pilot.

Airport chief rues inaction

When asked about the pathetic condition of the road, Airport Director M?R?Vasudeva said he had requested the district administration and the State government to repair the perimeter road, soon after the crash.

“A number of reminders too have been sent to the district administration as well as State government to repair the road in view of the possible danger, but nothing has been done till date,” he rues.

Deputy Commissioner N?S?Chennappa Gowda said there was no proposal to repair the perimeter road.

Proposals

“There are only two proposals, that is, to evict the Deccan Park and also to extend the runway, but there is no proposal to repair the perimeter road.”

Given the present condition of the road, in case if the aircraft lands in the valley between the two runways (06-24 and 09-27), any vehicle will require a minimum of 15 minutes to reach the spot, by which time, the plane would have been reduced to ashes.

But then, the government takes no action unless there is a tragedy. Which is a tragedy.


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News Network
April 1,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 1: The Opposition Congress leader in the Karnataka Assembly, and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has appealed the party legislators and MPs to contribute a minimum rupees one lakh each, towards the KPCC's Corona relief fund.

In a statement, here on Tuesday, Siddaramaiah had stated that the COVID-19 disease had created a havoc among the people of the state, and had thrown thousands of people jobless and struggling to get access to the food grains as well as to medical aid.

The people of the state, who had battered from the unprecedented rains and floods recently, had to face another daunting challenge of the spread of COVID-19 virus across the state.

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News Network
July 19,2020

Mangaluru, Jul 19: Palakkad Division of Southern Railway that has jurisdiction over Mangaluru Railway region has established a business development unit (BDU) to cater to the transportation of various sectors, including non-bulk goods traffic, namely, white goods, finished products, manufactured products, agricultural produce and raw material.

In a statement issued here on Sunday said that the BDU’s mandate was to facilitate seamless interaction between the Railways on the one hand and industry, trade representatives and rail freight customers on the other at appropriate zonal or divisional levels. The unit was also expected to help expeditious clearance of their proposals for freight movement.

Palakkad Divisional Railway Manager Pratap Singh Shami established the BDU in line with the similar unit at the zonal level with other divisions of SR too setting up similar units. Palakkad BDU would work under the supervision of Additional DRM-II CT Sakkeer Hussain while Senior Divisional Operations Manager PL Ashok Kumar was its convener with Senior Divisional Commercial Manager Jerin G Anand, Senior Divisional Mechanical Engineer KV Sundaresan and Senior Divisional Finance Manager AP Sivachandrar were its members.

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News Network
June 4,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 4: Assuring support to reform the police department, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Thursday directed officials to strengthen Cyber Crime, Economic Offences & Narcotics (CEN) stations and forensic labs in the state.

The Chief Minister who held a review of the Home Department, lauded the work of police personnel during the COVID-19 crisis, and promised necessary help to reform the department.

Pointing at the changing scenario, the Chief Minister instructed officials to give priority to strengthen CEN stations, his office said in a release. Similarly, for quick detection of crimes, necessary action will be taken to strengthen forensic labs, he added. During the meeting it was also decided to continue more than 3,000 home guards, who were in the fear of losing jobs, and to deploy them to various departments.

Yediyurappa directed officials to take necessary steps to make home guard services available to private organisations also. Officials informed the Chief Minister that all necessary COVID-19 related precautions have been taken at prisons and no case has been reported so far at jails. They said as per Supreme Court directions, 5,005 people were released on bail and parole, and congestion of prisoners at prisons has been reduced from 110 per cent to 95 per cent.

Yediyurappa also asked the officials to submit a proposal based on facts towards development of basic amenities that comes under the Home Department.

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