Islands of green

Islands of green
Medians and traffic islands offer business houses a chance to contribute to the greenery in the city and get noticed, says The Times of India


Medians and traffic islands (traffic channelisers in the modern parlance) play a key role in maintaining road discipline and safety to motorists and pedestrians. Though a small city, Bangalore annually spends around Rs 50 crores towards the upkeep of its medians and channelisers, says a government source. This up-keep exercise has traditionally been the sole duty of the government. However, the scenario has changed with the corporate acronym 'PPP' (private-public partnership) making inroads even into such governmental affairs.

"Medians and traffic islands remained quite mundane issue of the state till the break of liberalisation. But since then, we have been seeing a lot of private participation in the up-keep of public infrastructure", he says. Rama Krishna VA, vice president, Sonata Software says: "We assist the state government in keeping the road-related infrastructure clean and green. We draw a lot of inspiration by providing incremental greenery for a median or a traffic channeliser. We believe that it's the need of the hour, considering the amount of construction happening around us. Also, by doing this, we become a part of the community and the environment". The company maintains half a dozen parks, medians and traffic junctions in the city.

"We take care of the upkeep of many parks, medians and traffic islands in the city, especially on the Air Port Road. The idea is to help create a balance by providing enough green cover and lung space", says Ravi Puravankara, Director, Puravankara Properties. Today, many corporates from across business verticals including financial services, realty, telecom, hospitality, healthcare, advertising, information technology and bio-technology are involved in this exercise.

"In fact, more number of business houses are willing to participate. But many are unaware of what it takes for them to get involved in the exercise. So, we need clear directions and guidelines from the government, Bangalore City Corporation and Department of Horticulture on how to get into it", says Srivastava, a city social worker.

However, BCC deputy commissioner Krishna Udapudi says: "We have a clear mandate for beautifying the traffic islands. We are keen to fill all open spaces in the city with green cover. We are concerned about the maintenance and up-keep of traffic islands, medians and footpaths. We also encourage private participation in the exercise".

In fact, some companies that voluntarily shouldered the responsibility, of the upkeep, have not kept upto their commitment. "By and large, all the corporates who signed up with us are doing a good job. But the enthusiasm has died down for some others. Therefore, we will soon review the corporate list", says another BCC official.

But the question is, by the time the 'PPP' attains proper shape here, how many traffic channelisers would we be left with? "With more oneways being introduced, we have been getting rid of many channelisers in the city", says DCP (traffic) M A Saleem. However, some of the key channelisers like the ones at the Windsor Manor Circle, near Indian Express on Queens Road and near Tiffanys on Kasturba Road are here to stay, he adds.

Traffic islands offer corporates a chance to contribute to greenery in the city.