The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : “Public participation key to sustainable cities”

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Friday, Sep 10, 2010
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

“Public participation key to sustainable cities”

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: Public policy initiatives and public participation are key to the evolvement of sustainable cities, experts said on Thursday.

Addressing a session on physical infrastructure at Connect 2010, Sunil Paliwal, TIDCO Managing Director, said implementing of major infrastructure projects faced capacity constraints in three areas – inadequacies of tender procedures, consultancy and contractors.

Calling for strict enforcement of planning guidelines, Mr. Paliwal noted that implementation of norms was lax in Chennai.

The public should also cooperate in the adherence to norms and also be willing to pay tariffs proportionate to the costs of services such as water or sewerage, he said.

K. Venugopal, Joint Editor, The Hindu Business Line, said a critical assessment showed that Chennai as a city had grown without a grid to guide it.

The average commute time of 72 minutes was way too high by Chennai standards, he said.

V. Somasundaram, Chief General Manager, Chennai Metro Rail Ltd, said when it is implemented the Metro Rail would reduce commute time by 75 per cent from one end of the city to another. The key differentiator of the largest infrastructure project ever undertaken in Tamil Nadu (estimated cost of Rs. 14,600 crore and project completion cost of Rs. 18,000 crore) was its wholesome integration with the other modes of transport, he said.

Oscar Braganza, Executive Director, Marg, called for government support in building sustainable cities, promoting new Tier II cities and satellite townships and encouraging reverse migration from overcrowded metros.

Panellists at a session on “Tamil Nadu Surging Ahead” ruled that the entrepreneurial spirit was vibrant in Tamil Nadu and the future of individual enterprise was bright.

T. C. Meenakshi Sundaram, MD, IDG Ventures, said the face of entrepreneurship in the State was changing from its traditional moorings. He urged entrepreneurs not to be disheartened by failures and progress by learning from the experience.

Leo Puri, Managing Director, Warburg Pincus, said the image of the Tamil business culture as closed and conservative could possibly be an overstated stereotype, though family business tended to prefer stability of bottom lines over the stress of venturing into new business models. He called for a change in mindset towards sourcing capital in the form of private equity to build on a business.

Neeraj Bharadwaj, MD, Accel India Growth, stressed the importance of being a little promotional about one's business. This was a vital asset in today's highly networked world, he said.

Mohanjit Jolly, Partner, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, said the first line of success stories of new Indian entrepreneurs who made it big would inspire other enterprise start-ups to think scale.

Chairing the session, Gopal Srinivasan, CMD, TVS Capital Funds, said entrepreneurs were the new freedom fighters who had to lead the nation from independence to social and economic freedom.

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