Not criticism, cooperation is what B’luru needs most

Confrontationist attitudes do not help any one, least of all those who would like to do business and prosper in a city which they have made their home for several decades.

In the past few weeks, some big guns of business in Bengaluru have been lamenting over the poor and pothole ridden roads in Bengaluru and the shoddy garbage clearance, which they attribute to ad ministrative lapses.

Not that they have not complained in the past; but this time, the laments have been persistent and have also drawn reactions from those in government. In fact after reports emerged that neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, which has always had its eye on the flourishing industries in the IT hub, was trying to woo some potential investors, the Karnataka government had launched an intensive drive to improve infrastructure here, filing the many potholes.

An amount as high as a thousand crore was set aside for the purpose and the results are there to see; many roads which riders once dreaded to take, fearing a back-breaking drive, now wear a much better look thanks to the efforts undertaken in recent weeks.

Garbage, no doubt, has been accumulating in heaps and piles across the city, a usual occurrence during the festive season. And with Diwali round the corner, one can expect the garbage woes of the Greater Bengaluru corporations to increase manifold which calls for an accelerated drive to collect and dispose garbage.

Coming back to the ‘heated exchange’ if one may call it that, between the administration and industry honchos, one can only hope this is resolved in a spirit of friendliness. Bengaluru has contributed in leaps and bounds to the growth of the country as a whole with its focus on the IT industry, which helps it export software and IT products worth lakh of crores of rupees overseas.

Any potential investor looking to set up shop here, has manifold advantages - salubrious climate, already existing facilities for industrial growth and for ancillary units, a perfectly trained and experienced workforce tuned to meet specific requirements, not to mention a harmonious and friendly ambience and a cosmopolitan outlook.

Such attributes are not found everywhere though our neighbouring states have been going gun ho about all that they can offer over and above what Bengaluru can. But then such progress does not happen in a jiffy; it requires decades of effort to build an industrial climate and a flourishing sector which is now the ‘crown jewel’ in India’s growth story.

So let’s not paint a sordid picture of the infrastructure in Bengaluru, just because traffic sometimes tends to pile up or because the roads are not too good during and after the monsoon.

One can’t help wondering if there is any city which is free from such problems and maybe has them in even greater proportions than Namma Bengaluru.

Administrators in other states may have a clever agenda in mind to draw industries away, citing infra problems here, which is perfectly understandable considering the fact that Bengaluru’s stunning growth has left them gaping in envy.

But then, one does not expect our own industrialists, who have earned us so much pride through their dedication to succeed and set up sterling institutions, to relentlessly keep the tirade going against our ‘infra woes,’ which benefits neither them nor the state in the long run.