Govt ignored alternative to cutting and chopping trees

GANDHINAGAR, JAN 25: Does the government have any alternatives to cutting and chopping for Infocity? Yes, and, it appears, with several beneficial spin-offs. The Gandhinagar Electronics and Software Association (GESA) has, in fact, requested the State Government to shift the location from near the Indroda Circle to the GIDC electronic estate. GESA president Rajan Vasa said, “Several software and electronics units are already housed in the Gandhinagar GIDC estate, and if another such facility (Infocity) is being created just five kilometres away, it will not only dilute the focus of the software industry but also amount to duplication.”

Vasa said he did not endorse the contention of those in charge of the project that software or hardware units should be located in a cluster. “Where is the need for acquiring 200 to 300 acres of land and cutting thousands of trees, several of them 10 to 15 years old, to establish an Infocity like this?”, he questioned. Suggesting an alternative site, the GESA chief saidabout 75 acres of land was lying unsold at the GIDC estate, of which 35 to 40 acres of land was available in the electronic estate.

Besides, he said, a large plot of land had been earmarked for a housing zone for entrepreneurs in the GIDC estate. “If the government cares to provide all basic infrastructure, this could be the ideal location for Infocity, that, too, without axing trees.”

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Another suggestion was that the K Road running adjacent to the electronic estate be linked with the Gandhinagar-Sarkhej highway, so that information technology entrepreneurs could have easy access to Ahmedabad city and the airport. Yet another advantage of locating Infocity within the GIDC estate is that entrepreneurs can avail of the remote-sensing satellite earth station installed there by the Centre at a cost of over Rs 4 crore.

Besides, at least 50 per cent of the industrial units are lying closed in the Gandhinagar GIDC estate, which the GESA chief says, can be re-utilised for Infocity, without a single rupeeinvestment by the government.