Bengaluru's rain woes will be resolved by next year, Karnataka IT minister tells industry

People in Bengaluru seen travelling in the bucket of an excavator (Image credit: hey__goku/Twitter)

Karnataka’s IT minister Ashwath Narayan has assured information technology firms and industry bodies that a solution would be found to Bengaluru’s rain woes by next year, as India’s tech hub has yet again been brought to its knees by heavy rainfall.

The minister met representatives from companies located in the Mahadevapura zone, which has been among the worst affected areas, on September 7 as the city’s IT corridor saw one of its worst flooding in recent years.

Narayan chaired the meeting along with Axilor Ventures head and Karnataka Vision Group for IT chairman Kris Gopalakrishnan.

The industry representatives told the government that their primary concern was to bring the issues they were facing to the government’s notice.

The meeting was attended by representatives of companies including Infosys, Mphasis, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Wipro, Intel and Accenture, along with representatives of industry body NASSCOM and the Outer Ring Road Companies Association (ORRCA), which counts major IT and banking companies among its members.

ORRCA, a body for companies on the Outer Ring Road, had earlier in a representation to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said companies would have to find alternative destinations if the city’s infrastructure issues was not improved.

Also read: TCS, Wipro and HCL closely monitor situation amid Bengaluru rains, caution employees

Narayan said the government was doing everything to address the crisis. ‘Brand Bengaluru’ was resilient and that they would hold meetings virtually every month to address grievances of the industry, he said.

The minister also said that the government would consider developing Mahadevapura on the lines of the Electronic City Industrial Township Authority model of governance in Bengaluru, which has its own civic authority.

In a statement, ORRCA said the meeting was constructive and that the government had reassured them that infrastructure challenges would be addressed with robust short, medium and long-term plans.

“There was general agreement that the ORR stretch needs to be prioritised and the government has taken feedback provided in a positive manner. A meeting to share and discuss the implementation plan is expected to happen shortly,” the statement said.

Also read: Bengaluru Rains: Startup CEO forced to take tractor to reach office amid crumbling infra

In a tweet, former Infosys director and Aarin Capital Chairman Mohandas Pai asked the IT minister to set up a committee under an additional chief secretary to monitor the remedial works.

“Minister pl set up a committee under an ACS to monitor all these remedial works, ensure quality and no corruption, give weekly reports to restore confidence!we do not want shoddy,low quality work again…We need accountability (sic),” he said.