Govt-IT panel sets deadlines for projects

Govt-IT panel sets deadlines for projects
Deccan Herald

The high-power committee has suggested that recurring costs in infrastructure upgrades should be met by IT firms.

The newly formed high-power committee comprising representatives from the government and the IT sector on Friday identified and confirmed deadlines for short-term infrastructure upgrading projects for Bangalore.

“This was our first meeting and we are encouraged by the response of the government. This committee has been constituted for a specific purpose: to ensure that all short-term measures are executed by mid-March,” said Infosys Technologies Chief Financial Officer Mohandas Pai, who attended the meeting.

BDA assurance

The meeting was chaired by Chief Secretary B K Das, with Flextronics Vice-President R K Misra and Electronic City Industries Association member Kiran Shah. Apart from 19 roads shortlisted for upgrades, the meeting also discussed flyovers, peripheral ring roads and traffic decongestion. Bangalore Development Authority Commissioner M N Vidyashankar assured the panel that all three flyovers under construction will be completed within the stipulated period.

City Police Commissioner Ajai Kumar Singh said bus shelters obstructing traffic flow are being shifted and 40 such shelters will be removed by mid-October.

Mr Misra said the government promised that the lighting of Hosur Road up to Electronic City will be undertaken within two to three months by the National Highway Authority of India at a cost of Rs 60 lakh.

It was suggested that the recurring costs could be met by the IT companies or generated through local panchayats, Mr Misra said.

The Karnataka Land Army Corporation, that has been awarded the upgrading work for 10 roads following an exemption from the Transparency Act, began work on Airport Road on Friday.

However, rain forced the work to be abandoned by afternoon.