The Outer Ring Road Companies Associations (ORRCA) projected a collective loss of Rs 225 crore of all the firms it represents in a letter filed to Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday due to the flooding of the outer ring road after heavy rain pounded the city on August 30.
The ORRCA represents all major IT and financial firms around the Outer Ring Road (ORR).
“It is believed that more than 500,000 professionals are employed along the Outer Ring Road (ORR) corridor between Central Silk Board and K.R.Puram corridor, and with other support services and indirect employment, this 17-kilometer corridor provides employment for close to one million people,”
“ORR IT generates $22 billion in income each year (32% of Bengaluru’s revenue) and is the top tax contributor, but the lack of focus on infrastructure development in this corridor is unacceptable,” the letter continued.
According to the letter, “poor infrastructure on this corridor, on the other hand, is lowering the efficiency and productivity of the enterprises and putting employee safety and well-being at danger.”
“Flooding on the ORR on August 30 resulted in a loss of Rs 225 crores due to personnel being stranded on the road for more than 5 hours.” ORR’s inadequate infrastructure has now reached crisis proportions.
Despite the fact that just 30% of the ORR population has returned to work from home, the city of Bengaluru’s ability to handle further expansion has sparked global worry. “Member companies have made significant investments in the ORR,” according to the letter.
“In addition, member organisations were forced to activate emergency Business continuity plans and work from home or delegate vital work to sites outside of Bengaluru and Karnataka, bringing reputational and economic harm to the city and state.” “This situation has persisted for the previous three days and beyond,” the letter continued.
The ORRCA also stated in the letter that the government should develop short- and mid-term plans to address the infrastructure challenges.
“It is in the mutual interest of ORRCA and the government that Bengaluru infrastructure issues are solved with a short-medium-long-term and long-term vision to sustain growth, since these firms will seek alternate destinations if the situation does not improve,” the letter stated.
