Mangalore: Private Airlines not ready for new Terminal?
by Florine Roche
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore
Mangalore, Apr 1: It is not an April fool prank. The endless wait of Mangaloreans for the inauguration of the New Airport Terminal Building (NITB) is going to be delayed by one more month if at all the inauguration is going to be a reality by April this year. It can be recalled that the new terminal building is waiting endlessly for the past few months to get an inauguration date from the honorable Prime Minister’s office. Chairman of the Airport Advisory Committee Board Nalin Kumar Kateel, MP expressed hope that if not the Prime Minister Civil Aviation Minister Praful Kumar Patel would inaugurate the NITB by the end of April. The Airport Advisory Committee meeting held on 27th March under the chairmanship of Nalin Kumar which was attended by the Dy Commissioner V Ponnuraj in addition to other members of the committee.
While getting a VIP inauguration date is proving to be an uphill task and is one of the reasons for the delay in the inauguration of the NITB MP Nalin Kumar Kateel says that there are other reasons as well due to which the airport terminal inauguration is getting delayed. “The private operators like Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and other operators are not ready with their checking counters at the NITB. The work of the link road from NITB to Deccan Park side will take one more month for completion”, he said speaking to daijiworld.com.
Nalin Kumar also said that unlike the Bajpe airport there is no public transport system from the NITB. “Not having bus service from the NITB is a major problem as all passengers may not be able to afford taxis from the airport as that facility would prove costly. There is no easy railway connectivity also from the new terminal building. We have requested the Dy Commissioner to provide the facility of Volvo buses from the new Airport Terminal Building”. Provision of a Railway station at NITB was also discussed at the meeting, he stated.
With regard to the approach road to the airport terminal it is now believed that there is a rethinking on making it one way to reduce possible traffic congestion. And that is why the development and completion of the road from Deccan Park to NITB assumes importance as it would ease traffic movement from and to the airport. Nalin Kumar denied there is any basic flaw in the construction of the new approach road to the NITB.
The problem of municipal water supply to NITB is another pressing issue. The water problem would now be solved as the Committee decided to buy water from MRPL in the absence of any reply or proposal from the city corporation.
The road work at the NITB is sure to take a month at least for completion and by then one can expect even private operators to be ready with their checking counters. All these problems can find a solution at the local level. But whether the concerned officials will be able to find VIP date within the stipulated time of April end for its inauguration is a million dollar question facing Mangaloreans who have been waiting interminably to become their long cherished dream a reality.
Nalin Kumar Kateel, however, expressed optimism saying “considering the progress achieved so far there is every hope that by the end of April the NITB should become operational. There is no point in delaying the commissioning of the new terminal just for want of VIP date. By the month end even the private operators should be ready with their counters”. In the absence of finding it difficult to co-opt PM’s date at least the new terminal can be made operational without a formal inauguration. But the powers that be at the helm seem to be not relenting. One can only hope that some good sense prevails among Airport Authority Officials. Is it too much to ask for?
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