Air crash victims memorial to be ready by October

Work on the proposed memorial park for the 2010 air crash victims would be completed by October, a top district administration official has said.
The memorial would come up on 90 cents of land of the New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) at Tanneerbhavi near the city, the spot where unidentified victims of the crash were buried, an official release here said.
The project cost of the park and the monument was estimated at Rs 35 lakh, Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim told a review meeting here yesterday.
Initial work, including fencing, garden-making and construction of pathways had begun in the land, located beside the road leading to Tannerbhavi.

A total of 158 passengers on board an Air India Express flight from Dubai to Mangaluru were killed when the aircraft overshot the runway after landing in the wee hours of May 22, 2010.
Eight passengers had a miraculous escape. As the authorities could only identify 146 out of the 158 bodies, a mass burial was held for remaining bodies at the NMPT land.

Mangaluru International Airport director G T Radhakrishna, NMPT Superintendent Engineer Rajappa, Architects' Guild president Venkatesh Pai and its members attended the meeting.
As per the suggestion of Guild members, the meeting decided to invite entries of models for the monument. The best model would be given a cash prize of Rs 50,000 and the next best a prize of Rs 25,000.

The Guild would conduct the competition and select the best models in co-ordination with the NMPT authorities and also sponsor the prizes.
The Air Crash Victims Families Association president Mohammed Beary said the construction of a memorial was the long-pending demand of the families. The names of victims should be inscribed on the memorial, he said.