Pune holds key to City’s redemption

Pune holds key to City’s redemption
Deccan Herald

A spectre is haunting Bangalore. The spectre of a civic armageddon. From bad roads to clogged drains, everything around it is collapsing.

July 18, 2003 – Wipro chief Azim Premji fumes over bad roads in Bangalore. He threatens to stage a dharna.

October 5, 2004 – IIMB students and staff take to the streets in protest against bad roads.

October 19, 2004 – Mend B’lore roads, Prime Minister tells Chief Minister

October 21, 2004 – Industrialists complain to Rahul Gandhi about the bad condition of roads.

March 3, 2005 – “We’ll improve infrastructure,” asserts Chief Minister during an informal visit to the Infosys campus.

Who do we blame? In the beginning, there were a lot of promises. Good infrastructure to match talent pool, good roads, 24-hour power supply and uninterrupted water supply were just some them. What we got instead was the authorities pointing fingers at each other and leaders who raised a hue and cry, now throwing their hands up in despair.

Bangalore’s infrastructure is buckling under pressure. Citizens’ grievances columns in the newspapers continue to be flooded with complaints of bad roads, missing streetlights and clogged drains. The residents are out on the streets and protests about bad civic amenities have become an everyday affair. It seems like Bangalore has become a victim of its own success. The City is choking.

In such a situation, Bangalore, can, perhaps, take a leaf out of the public-private partnership initiative in Pune. An arrangement which involves the Promoters and Builders Association of Pune (PBAP) and the Pune Municipal Corporation. On paper, it certainly looks like a thumbs-up.

The developers and builders of Pune have volunteered to develop the infrastructure of the area surrounding their property. The infrastructure work would include the roads, drainage system, storm water drains, pavements, signboards, underground cabling to avoid repeated road-cutting, etc. The cost of infrastructure development will be borne by the private players and the quality of work will be monitored by the corporation to ensure that it is on par with the standards prescribed.

What is the motivation for the builders and developers to take up this initiative? “Firstly, he can show a clean road leading to his property and secondly, in the larger perspective, these small pieces of roads made up to connect the main roads, will ultimately sell Pune as a destination to the IT and BPO industries,” says Rajesh Choudhary, the Convener of the Pune Municipal Corporation Committee (PMCC) which is handling the affairs of this partnership.

The corporation rules allows private players to participate in the infrastructure development in exchange for TDR (Transferable Development Rights), says Prashant Waghmare, the Chief Engineer of Pune Municipal Corporation. “There is a funds crunch in the corporation. So, when the builders approached us with this suggestion, we decided to jointly work out an arrangement and we are now in the process of finalising the layout of roads, cross sections and service roads, etc on the lines of an ideal city,” he says.

This partnership is based on a purely business model. As a token of thanks to the developer, the corporation has agreed to give away TDR certificates equalling the cost spent by the developer on the infrastructure. Says R Vasudevan, the Managing Director of Vascon Engineers Pvt Ltd, Pune: “It all started in one of our association meetings, where we were discussing the bad roads in Pune. The challenge was to find something within the system towards an ultimate win-win situation for all. And it’s not social service. It is done on a business model. We are only working as a catalyst to speed up the infrastructure development process,” he quips. So, the developer can claim a clean road around his building while eyeing the TDRs and the corporation has fewer roads to take care of. For the road user, it is a smooth ride all the way.

What remains to be seen is how successful a story can be scripted out of this partnership between the Pune developers and the corporation.