Infrastructure needs discussed at work shop

Infrastructure needs discussed at work shop

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, April 24, 2016: On Apr 23, Saturday,  a discussion was organised as a part of two-day workshop, ‘Inclusive green growth, institutional innovations, environmental policy and implications for employment generation with special reference to Dakshina Kannada’ jointly organised by NITK, Surathkal, Besant Evening College and Karnataka State Pollution Control Board.

Participants and panelists in the discussion on urban infrastructure planning and development came up with suggestions, including widening of roads, making Mangaluru an IT hub, exploiting solar energy, adopting rainwater harvesting etc., to improve the quality of life in the coastal town.

Stating that the vented dam at Thumbe was built to cater to the water requirements of Mangaluru during summer, J. Nataraj, Executive Engineer, Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Board, said that with the city growing, the storage had become insufficient. At least 19 per cent of the city’s population still did not have access to running water, the engineer said. The new dam being built should be able to solve the problem, he said.

Putting forth the point of view of the traffic police, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Uday M. Nayak said that of the 235 sanctioned posts, the traffic police had just 125 staff.  While the number of vehicles goes up every year, roads in the city, many of which were narrow, could not be widened for want of space. Nayak said that the authorities should work hard towards getting the State Bank bus stand shifted to decongest the central parts of the city.