PPP is the only way to tackle city’s infrastructure woes

PPP is the only way to tackle city’s infrastructure woes
H S Balram
The Times of India

A strong message lies in the ugly war of words between the Dharam Singh government and IT honchos over crumbling infrastructure in Bangalore, and their subsequent meeting to chalk out short, medium and long-term measures. That the answer to the city’s woes lies in publicprivate partnership (PPP). The government and private sector must work together to take the IT city out of the woods. Japan did precisely this after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that crippled its economy, and is now way ahead of us in infrastructural facilities. Confrontation will not only worsen the situation but also bring down Bangalore’s global image, nurtured carefully over the years.

The three-phase time-bound package, if implemented sincerely, will change the face of Bangalore. The short-term plan, to be completed by January 2006, includes upgradation of roads in the central business district, the Indiranagar-Airport Road-Koramangala corridor, and the Hosur-Koramangala-Madivala corridor; removal of parking on roads and accommodating vehicles in multi-level parking lots; and construction of bus bays. The mediumterm plan includes the international airport at Devanahalli to be completed within three years and the peripheral Ring Road in six years. In the long-term plan, industries will design and fund some of the projects, to be identified by the government.

The question that crops up here is: Couldn’t this package have been prepared without the ugly face-off ? When a large number of IT companies decide to boycott the Bangalore IT.in, an annual event, in protest against the failure of the government to implement scores of promises on the infrastructure front, guess how our ministers and bureaucrats react? Chief minister Dharam Singh, who is usually calm and composed, erupts. “There is a systematic disinformation campaign against me... There is groupism in the IT sector too. One such group is indulging in a propaganda against me by trying to give political colour to infrastructure issues,’’ he says.

The two wise men in the JD(S) give a new twist to the issue. Finance and industry minister P G R Sindhia surprises everyone by playing the language card. He says, “Let the IT companies know that it is equally important to provide employment to Kannadigas in their firms, while they raise a hue and cry over infrastructure.’’

Deputy CM, M P Prakash, who never loses his cool, says, “Bangalore is a people’s city and the industries are setting up base here not because of the civic situation but the excellent manpower that the city offered.’’ Some even question the IT companies’ contribution to the state. IT secretary Shankaralinge Gowda says, “The strides made by Bangalore are because of the intellectual capital and input, and not road, water and ambience.’’

Maybe the IT industry is not entirely correct in threatening to boycott Bangalore IT.in to drive home its point. But no one can dispute that its protest is to draw the government’s attention to woes that affect all sections of society. The IT companies respond to the ministers’ accusations by saying that they contributed 25 per cent of Karnataka’s GDP; IT exports will touch Rs 40,000 crore this year; the industry generated 2.5 lakh jobs and this year it will be up by another lakh; Karnataka had the highest tax collections under VAT, majorly because of the IT industry; the industry followed a non-discriminatory employment policy; only 10 per cent of the IT population used cars, the rest used office buses or carpooled.

The verbal duel that lasted over a week added to the plummeting image of Bangalore on infrastructure. Fortunately, better sense prevailed quickly on the government. It dropped its initial rigid stance and convened a meeting chaired by chief secretary B K Das and invited industry bigwigs. Result: A three-phase package. Hopefully, both the government and the industry will ensure its implementation without getting into another confrontation.

When this war was going on, the High Court set up a three-member high-powered committee of retired engineers to oversee the relaying and repairing of roads in Bangalore, and also look into the completed road works and find out if they have been done as per norms. The team has begun work in right earnest. With the infrastructure issue coming under the court scanner and public-private-participation taking off, living conditions in Bangalore are sure to take a turn for the better. Or is it too early to arrive at this conclusion?

Tour Bangalore too

Our ministers, legislators and bureaucrats never miss a chance to go abroad, ostensibly to study roads and transport there. They return inspired, but fail to put it to good use. Public works minister H D Revanna returned from Detroit a few months ago and promised to make Bangalore’s roads as good as those there. It is yet to materialise. Now, transport minister Mallikarjuna Kharge has left for Japan to study the transport system there. He will no doubt come back quite inspired. But will Bangalore benefit? No. Shouldn’t these ministers instead do a study tour of Bangalore to know the condition of its roads and traffic?