In the recent days the catch up phrase has been Namma Mysore, thanks to rapid developments in the manufacturing sector and the IT industry. The hype in real estate is so high that all directions are hinting towards a bubble, nonetheless the motto of the article is about the transportation and the civic infrastructure of Namma Mysore Whichever political party is in power in the state for the past 5 years, all have voiced out the phrase “Make Mysore the next best destination for IT” -which the government would more or less succeed in, as it did in case of Bangalore; But (it’s a BUT) are we starting another Bangalore like condition ?
A city whose economy no doubt witnessed huge growth so did the loopholes in infrastructure. The metro railway which supposedly would ease Bangalore’s traffic should have been a reality by now if not an example for other cities, a city with Bangalore’s stature is operating under a temporary airport. The bottlenecks in the drainage system which is being highlighted now must have been addressed at least a decade ago. The rain harvesting equipment whose installation is mandatory now should have been envisioned at least a decade ago, so that today we would not have witnessed acute water shortage. The list is endless. Mysore has an excellent weather throughout the year; it has an excellent human resource pool thanks to the 5 engineering colleges one of which is only for ladies (only one of its kinds in the country) along with various other colleges which offer quality education. These parameters play a very important role in economic growth of a place.
Namma Mysore so is perfectly conducive for upgrading into an industrial economy but the infrastructure bottle necks are as susceptible as that of any other underdeveloped city. Firstly, the city is gearing up for an inflow of several major IT companies other than the existing ones. The administrators have grossly undermined the fact that with companies come their employees and with them their families. So the need of the hour is to improve the roads, residential colonies and civic amenities which are deplorable as such. Secondly the motto of the administrators should be to foresee growth and act accordingly now rather than act as the growth is visible which has the case in our country been all along. Steps like widening of roads, improving the green cover of the city, providing good quality education, drinking water, sewage facilities, water treatment etc should be done now rather than later for we have had a bad experience of spoiling Bangalore let the same not accompany Namma Mysore.
- By Varun K R |
