Raviprasad Kamila/The Hindu

Mangalore, Nov 6: The Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat on Wednesday handed over the Malavoor-Kenjar Road to the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

This will enable the AAI to develop it as an approach road from the city side to its new integrated terminal building coming up at Kenjar.

“The zilla panchayat officials handed over the road to us on Wednesday evening,” M.R. Vasudeva, Director of Mangalore airport told The Hindu.

Connects

Earlier this year, the AAI had written to the zilla panchayat to hand over the road to it. The road connects the site of the new terminal building at Kenjar with Malavoor on Mangalore-Bajpe Road, which is a State highway.

The 900-m-long, 12-m-wide asphalted road is in bad condition. Contractors executing the work on the terminal building use this road to transport lightweight construction material to the site.

Important

For the AAI this is an important road because there is no other direct approach road to the site of the new terminal building, which is expected to be completed in March 2009.

Mr. Vasudeva said that the AAI would have to call a tender to award the contract to develop the road.

New road

However, the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) has begun preliminary work to lay a new road to connect the new terminal building site with Mangalore-Bajpe Road. But work is still under progress. The AAI officials are apprehensive as to whether the KUIDFC will be able to complete it by the time the terminal building is ready.

J.R. Lobo, Deputy Project Director, KUIDFC, told The Hindu that the new road would be ready by January 2009. “We will lay an 850-metre-long concrete road with 7 metres width. At curves the width will be nine metres,” he said.