Bevy of Citizens Gather to Support ‘The Travel Hub in Mluru ‘ Concept by Er Aloysius Albuquerque

Bevy of Citizens Gather to Support ‘The Travel Hub in Mluru ‘ Concept by Er Aloysius Albuquerque

Mangaluru : Even though it was a lazy Sunday afternoon, where many after a delicious and sumptuous lunch take a long nap, but for nearly fifty concerned citizens of Mangaluru and nearby areas, they skipped their Sunday afternoon, instead they drove/rode all the to the picturesque Summer Sands Resort to join ion the interaction arranged by the Managing Director of the Resort, Engineer Aloysius Albuquerque Pai, on his new initiative- “The Travel Hub in Mangaluru” concept.

Welcoming and addressing the gathering on his innovative concept Aloysius Albuquerque said, “The concept of travel hub in Mangaluru is a project very close to my heart project, which I have worked on for ten years and therefore now that a travel hub has been proposed by the Mangalore Smart City, I am happy to present my project. Regarding Location Parameters, we need a low enough area with possibilities of entry at different levels into a multi tiered transport facility. As per my concept, all transport systems need to converge at one point with the heaviest (Rail) turning in at the bottom level of the hub. There should be an inlet and outlet of complex for the ultimate convenience of the traveler/commuter”

“The different transport forms from the bottom to top are : Rail; Outstation State transport service; Private bus transport; Moffocil Transport Buses; Taxi transport- Buses, Mini Buses, Taxi cars, vans, Private Vehicles, High speed monorail transport t important destinations like Port, Airport, City Center etc. Metro Transport. All floors are connected by multiple high speed elevators , conveyors for transport of heavy goods and escalators. Movement in the same floor could be by electric vehicles, flat bed conveyors, top hung conveyors for luggage. Also luggage trolleys could be used” added Aloysius.

He further said, “Every floor will have public convenience facilities such as : Rest rooms, Shopping, Baggage locker rooms, first aid, police booth, information, business center, waiting room lounges, Announcement facility and Information desk. Proper signage’s and floor pattern layouts are erected to find out where and how” of their movement. Advertising panels/ electronic imaging to showcase peoples requirements. This hub will facilitate travel plans very conveniently. For example – Person coming fro KSRTC Bus, goes from the bus floor to the taxi floor and proceeds to his local destination; Person coming by
train, goes up to the mono rail level and goes straight to the airport; Person arriving fro airport at the monorail level goes down to the rail level and goes to his destination etc”

“As for economics, Revenue can be earned by- Entry / parking fees; Rent from Commercial Outlets; Advertisements; Transport charges of baggage using conveyors etc. Revenues will be generated from day one and using this Hub will be the most economic and convenient mode of transport which is used in certain parts of the world, like Paris, London to name a few” added Aloysius.

In response to his Aloysius Albuquerque’s briefing on his concept, few participants put forth their suggestions. Engineer Areef said that it would be a great idea if a train service is added between Kasaragod and Manipal, where many people would be benefited. In reply Capt Pais said, “It is indeed a good idea. But we need to straighten up the relation between our region and Kerala. Last time when Kerala CM visited Mangaluru, hell broke lose, and we saw armed police parading the streets prior to his arrival. Kerala CM’s visit to Mangaluru created lots of chaos. Once our relationship gets better between Kerala and Karnataka, surely this plan could be initiated”.

Interior Designer z=Zakir Hussain said, “We need to make visitors coming to Mnagaluru more comfortable and make them feel easy to go around during their sight seeing or shopping. Auto-rickshaw drivers who are the first to come in contact with the visitors need to be trained, given brochures of the City, make them learn basic English, because they are the ones playing an important role in transporting the people around. Entrepreneur and Travel Professional William D’souza said, “We had started the initiative of launching the Tuk Tuk auto-rickshaws for the passengers coming on cruise ships to Mangaluru, and this concept is working out pretty good. Foreigners love to travel by these autos, and they are happy to mingle with the auto-drivers, who have changed their attitude, their behaviour, after they started interacting with the foreigners. We need to implement more ideas to the Smart City development projects, so that they are properly planned and not rushed further”.

William also mentioned about the old clock tower which was demolished decades ago, and now reconstructed again-he said that antique clock towers/buildings should be retained and not demolished. Look at foreign countries where they still preserve their ancient heritage with antique structures, clock towers etc. Architect Er Ashok Mendonsa said before we go further with The Travel Hub of Mangaluru plan, we need to opt for what kind of travel is feasible. Social worker and activist Gerald Towers said the City is not growing and there are lots of problems with the transport system is only because of the Bus owners/Bus drivers mafia, who are controlling the travel movements in Mangaluru. We need to put a end to this mafia involvement, added Towers.

Mangaluru origin, now based in Texas, USA, Ms Moira Albuquerque said that, when visitors come out of the airplane, and look for some details on Mangaluru in the MIA lounge, you’ll find no information nor any brochures on the City. Quick action should be taken by the tourism department in having a tourism kiosk or brochure shelf at the airport, so that the visitors are not made to go in circles to know more details of the city, added Ms Moira. Er Jeradin D’souza complimenting Aloysius Albuquerque on his novel concept said that real concentration should be made pertaining to The Travel Hub in Mangaluru, and make it successful for the betterment of the public and visitors.

MLA Mohammed Mukkachery of Ullal Constituency extended his full support from his side and his colleagues to this Hub Concept, and said that he would encourage more people to lend their support and see that the concept is materialized at the earliest. Nigel Albuquerque of MCC Civic Group also put forth good suggestions for a successful Travel
Hub in Mangaluru, which is indeed the need of the hour. Also many architects, engineers including Er Rajendra Kumar, Convener of AAP also gave good inputs for the forming of The Travel Hub.

The interaction was moderated by Engineer and contractor Dinakar Ullal, which ended in a very positive way, and everyone anticipated that something better will come up soon in regards to The Travel Hub in Mangaluru concept initiated by Aloysius Albuquerque. After further discussions and proper documents are put together, they will be submitted to the DC Sasikanth Senthil and the concerned officials in the Smart City Development.