Mangaluru plane crash victims: Buried, forgotten, don’t they at least deserve a decent memorial?

Mangaluru: Five long years have passed by but the assurance to set up a memorial park at the place where 12 unidentified bodies of the horrendous Mangaluru plane crash are buried is yet to be fulfilled. Presently, the burial site is in such a sorry state that it is difficult to identify the place.

On May 22, 2010, an Air India Express aircraft from Dubai overshot the runway at Mangaluru Airport and crashed resulting in the death of 158 passengers. When 12 bodies remained unidentified, the government buried them in land belonging to New Mangaluru Port Trust near Kulur Bridge, on the banks of River Phalguni.

This place is completely neglected now. There is nothing to mark the burial ground, not even a fence. As there is sand mining near the spot, trucks carrying sand move even on the burial ground! Even construction waste is dumped near the spot.

In December 2014, the authorities held a meeting when Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim declared that a memorial park would be constructed at the burial ground. But six months later, work has not yet started.

According to sources, the sand mafia is behind the delay in construction of the memorial as it could hamper their mining activity. “We had promised to construct the memorial park a few months ago and are working on it. Shortly the park will be set up here,” Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim told Deccan Chronicle.

Air Crash Victims Family Association president Mohammed Beary expressed concern over the negligence shown towards the burial site and the delay in constructing the park. “It has come to our notice that sand trucks move on the burial ground. The Deputy Commissioner was keen on protecting the place and constructing a memorial park. But it looks like vested interests are delaying it,” Beary said.

“We thank the Deputy Commissioner for his concern. We will shortly meet him and urge him to complete the work at the earliest,” he added.