Steps to improve roads to be in place by December

Steps to improve roads to be in place by December

The Hindu

Action plan to put city's infrastructure back on track reviewed

BANGALORE: If all goes well, the short-term measures to improve 19 roads on priority and get the city's infrastructure development back on track should be in place by the end of December.

Two weeks after the Government and the leaders of the information technology sector called a truce over the latter's threat to boycott the annual Bangalore IT.in, the short-term action plan came to be reviewed at the first meeting of the government-industry coordination committee here on Friday. The meeting was held even as the Karnataka Land Army Corporation began work on the identified roads.

The Chief Secretary, B.K. Das, coordinated the meeting, which was attended by chief executive officers of the private sector along with the commissioners of the Bangalore Development Authority, the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike and the police.

Infosys Chief Financial Officer Mohandas Pai told presspersons that the meeting specifically addressed the short-term measures, which include work on the Airport Road, Mahatma Gandhi Road, roads in Jeevan Bima Nagar, Koramangala 20th Main Road and Ulsoor Road-Dickenson Road.

Flextronics vice-president R.K. Misra, a member of the coordination group, said work on the three flyovers, including the one on Airport Road, has resumed.

The Police Commissioner and the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike have agreed to remove or shift the bus shelters located close to traffic junctions and all agencies have come together to pave the way for bringing the derailed infrastructure development at least in parts of the city back on track.

At the September 16 meeting with the IT industry representatives, Mr. Das had offered to take up work on 19 roads on priority. They included eight roads in the Mahatma Gandhi Road corridor, five roads in the Indiranagar corridor and six roads in the Hosur Road corridor.

Mr. Misra also said that in Peenya Industrial Area and Tumkur Road, the coordination group has mooted the idea of talking to the panchayats and local administration to improve street-lighting and road conditions. The National Highways Authority of India is mulling over a suggestion that it set up the basic infrastructure, while the panchayats and the industry could work out a plan to share the burden of recurring costs of electricity bills.

The meeting had also decided to work out medium and long-term plans. The industry expressed its willingness to fund a few projects. These projects would be identified and taken up separately. The design for the peripheral Ring Road is under way. The industry representatives seemed to have taken note of the "adverse image" of the city and decided to work together to ensure that it remains a favoured destination for investments.

Mr. Pai, who made it clear that this meeting only considered the short-term measures, said the group would meet on a regular basis to monitor progress. The Mahanagara Palike would soon take up work on the Inner Ring Road. As for the IT Corridor Project linking Whitefield, Sarjapur and Hosur roads, the matter is pending before the High Court of Karnataka and little could be done until it was cleared, he said.