Some cause for cheer: Govt, Private Parties Join Hands To Improve City Roads

This partnership shows the way
Govt, Private Parties Join Hands To Improve City Roads
The Times of India

Bangalore: Things may not be as hopeless for Bangalore as they may look. A public-private partnership (PPP) to improve the city’s roads is making progress. Officials say property developers are coming forward to fund projects.

Following the success of the PPP model in improving Bannerghatta Road and Airport Road (from Kundanahalli junction to the Sathya Sai Baba ashram), efforts are on to replicate the model on Sarjapur Road (where some work has begun), Brookefields Road (from Kundanahalli junction to Hoodi), Marathahalli bridge, Suranjan Das Road (connecting Airport Road and Old Madras Road) and the road from Neeladri to Bannerghatta Road.

The initiative is being driven by an empowered committee on road infrastructure headed by the chief secretary. Others on the panel are the urban development secretary, the infrastructure development secretary and industry leaders like CII (Karnataka) chairman Daljit Mirchandani, Infosys’ Mohandas Pai, Philips Software’s Bob Hoekstra and Flextronics vice-president R.K. Mishra. Private parties and the government contribute 50% of the funds each.

“Builders in particular have been proactive. Some have come forward to do an entire road. We give them advertising rights on that road for ten years,” says public works secretary P.B. Mahishi. Mishra, who is playing an active role in bringing private parties into the project, says: “We have instituted a professional thirdparty body to check the quality of roads being built; it won’t be the PWD which will do it.”

Bannerghatta Road saw Mantri Developers and ad agency Movva making significant contributions. The Rs 17-crore Airport Road project has seen funds from developers like Prestige, Adarsh, Sigma, Chaithanya and Vaswani. The Rs 11-crore Sarjapur Road project has a commitment from IDEB Construction. Efforts are on to get Wipro to contribute.

Gopalan Enterprises, with projects on Brookefields Road, is being asked to lead the initiative for that road, roping in others like developers RMZ andSJR Group and IT companies in Whitefield.

“The government is short of funds. So wherever developers have a stake, they are participating... But it will not work everywhere,” says B.M. Jayeshankar, MD of Adarsh Group.

On right track
Private parties and government contribute 50% each
Builders who come forward to do an entire road are given advertising rights on that road for a decade
There is hope that more private parties, particularly cash-rich IT companies, will participate

All for better city roads, the govt way

Bangalore: At a high-level meeting convened by senior government officials and mayor R. Narayanaswamy, the following objectives were chalked out for maintenance of roads and infrastructure.

Following recommendations from US-based Delawari Solid Waste Authority, government plans to set up a 1,000-acre plot near Ramanagaram for scientific disposal of solid waste.

Scientific landfill being developed near Mavalli to be made operational in October.
Scientific segregation and distribution of waste to happen in identified areas around Binny Mill area.
A 3-member panel including industrialists to be formed for roads maintenance.
Private-public joint venture to maintain footpaths on M.G. Road, Mission Road and Brigade Road.