Start checking all of the things you have done from the list mentioned here: Switched on a tube light, powered on your laptop, visited your local library, went on a road trip. If you answered yes to more than one of these activities, then your life has been impacted by more than one infrastructure project.
As the scale suggests, a large-scale infrastructure project is a massive undertaking involving everything from installing power grids, establishing dams, and expanding a hospital wing to constructing a new school and even a senior citizens’ park. All of these facilities ensure that people have access to clean water, quality education and healthcare, transport, and electricity.
Unlike a seemingly straightforward construction project, an infrastructure venture serves higher goals of nation-building, facilitating economic growth and improving the quality of lives of citizens with facilities and services that stimulate connectivity, meet basic needs of livelihood, provide opportunities for individual growth with the development of schools and universities, and encourage recreation with the creation of parks and community playgrounds.
Infrastructure projects directly impact the communities they are built in, and since these projects will remain permanent for the foreseeable future, every step in the planning process is a carefully considered decision that in some cases, like renewable energy projects, happens years in the making. During this time, complexities like policy changes, shifting governmental priorities, economic downturn, and supply chain constraints such as the one we witnessed with COVID-19 can significantly impact project timelines, available labour, and its associated costs.
Taking into consideration its evolving nature, infrastructure projects require leadership that remains strident in the face of uncertainty and changes to ensure a society has the required facilities to grow, develop its potential, take advantage of opportunities – and ultimately lead a full, comfortable life.
So, the next time you switch on a light, charge your phone, step onto a train or drive along highways, you know that these actions are a culmination of thousands of hours, countless labour, and numerous decisions aimed at making your life easier, simpler, and smoother.
