Monorail system could boost Lanka as IT hub

Hiran H. Senewiratne

TRANSPORT: Sri Lanka could be an Information Technology (IT) hub in the region if the country has a good transport system especially an efficient monorail electricity train system, Former Minister of Transport- Karnataka State, R. V. Devaraj said.

He said the introduction of a Monorail train system to Sri Lanka is definitely an investment to prevent the motor traffic problem in Colombo to create a conducive environment for the IT industry.

Devaraj who is a member of the Indira Congress, now in the Opposition of the Karnataka National State Assembly, has done yeoman service to develop the transport system in the state, observers said.

During his tenure of office he introduced computerised bus stands. He also spearheaded the introduction of luxury Volvo buses into the public transport system for the first time in India. The state government took a keen interest to improve the entire transport system to develop IT to this magnitude, he said.

Today Bangalore is known as the Silicon Valley of Asia due to the development in the IT sector. It is competing with major developed countries in the world. Devaraj said Sri Lanka has an intelligent population, which is a plus point to develop Colombo as IT hub in the region which brings a lot of money to the country since the future of the world will be based on IT.

He said that today Bangalore City has become a major IT hub in the world due to the efficient transport system along with the incentives provided by the state government under the aegis of former Governor S. M. Krishna. With the ever-increasing traffic snarls in the city the only alternative would be to popularise the monorail system, which Bangalore has been already started off a major under ground monorail project to enhance the transport system in the State covering major metropolitan cities to face the future challenges, Devaraj said.

He said that if Colombo to be developed as an IT hub in the region under ground electric monorail system is the need of the hour.

He further said that the City of Colombo is same in size as Chennai and an efficient transport system is essential.

He said the monorail is suitable for Sri Lanka because as it is environmental friendly and is a solution for the city traffic problem in the country.

Land and other property values have increased dramatically due to development of the IT sector during the last five to ten years.

Further per capita income in the Bangalore City has increased and it has more than 23,000 multi - millionaires in the city, he said.

Meanwhile Sri Lanka is also on its way to introduce the monorail system.

The Government of Sri Lanka signed a Letter of Intent with NEB Infrastructure (Pvt) Ltd, India to carry out the feasibility study for the Mass Rapid Transit (rail) System (MRTS) for Colombo metropolitan area in Colombo recently.

(Bangalore)