IT corridors brace for rain of miseries

Hyderabad: Major IT firms agreed in principle to the proposal made by the GHMC to adjust work timings for their employees to reduce traffic chaos during the evening peak hours when it is raining in the IT corridor.

IT industry representatives asked GHMC commissioner M. Dana Kishore to share traffic alerts and weather reports when heavy rainfall was predicted. They said they would take a final call in a week after consulting with IT majors. Women staff will be given priority to leave the office during heavy rainfall between 4 pm and 7 pm.

Responding to the request made by Mr Kishore, representatives from the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nass-com), Hyderabad Software Exporters’ Association (HYSEA) and Cyberabad Security Council said the timings would be based on the priorities of the employees. Modalities were being prepared and would be presented to the corporation during the convergence meeting on Saturday.

They said priority would be given to women to leave early and the departure of the other employees would be prioritised on the distance to their destination, age and other parameters. Based on the proposal given by the GHMC, IT representatives learnt that heavy rainfall would occur only during 8 to 15 days a year and arrangements would be made accordingly.

They said that a core Whatsapp group would be created with 400 facility managers from major and minor IT firms which had about 5 lakh employees who work and commute to office through about four lakh cars.

HYSEA Prabhu Murali said modalities would be worked out with all IT companies in Cyberabad, Gachibowli and Madhapur. He appreciated the efforts of the GHMC for acting early in sorting out traffic issues of the IT employees who would touch 10 lakhs during the next five years.

Mr Murali said guidelines and action plans on staggered timings would be prepared soon. He said issues would be resolved easily if major IT firms where about 30,000 employees worked would come forward to adjust their timings.

Mr Kishore said that the Telangana State Industrial and Infrastructure Corporation had grand plans to improve the civic infrastructure in the IT corridors. The GHMC would construct an efficient stormwater system, skyways, radial roads and widen the roads to address traffic issues.

Mr Kishore said Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had designed a master plan to enhance the infrastructure to the IT corridor since it played a vital role in enhancing the brand image of the city and in creating wealth for the state.

A senior GHMC official, on condition of anonymity, said the chaos was caused by the the failure of the town planning department. The department without conducting a transit study had accorded building permission.

The official said the traffic issue would remain the same until related issues like constructing stormwater drains, reinstating parking spaces of every building as per norms which is 40 per cent of the building space, road widening and strengthening the public transport were solved.

He said that the current meeting was only a temporary arrangement which would resolve the issue only by 20 per cent.