• CITB and MUDA allot just 50,000 sites in over 50 years
• Private developers distribute 70,000 sites in just 20 years

By S.T. Ravikumar

Mysore/Mysuru: Even as the number of site applicants is rising by the year, with the number close to 1 lakh so far, it has been found in a reality check that the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), previously known as City Improvement Trust Board (CITB), has distributed just 50,445 sites in over five decades.

Mysuru, known as a pensioner’s paradise, is becoming a popular destination for people from all walks of life to settle down due to its favourable climate and better infrastructure. Hence, the demand for sites in the city is growing by the day and the MUDA is under severe pressure to form layouts and allot sites to applicants at an affordable price. But owing to various reasons, the MUDA                        has failed to live up to its reputation as the trusted Government body for allotment of sites to needy applicants.

Out of the 50,445 sites distributed so far by MUDA, including the erstwhile CITB, 13,831 sites are of 20’x30’ dimension,100 sites are of 25’x30’ dimension,14,953 are of 30’x40’ dimension,12,004 are of 40’x60’ dimension, 2,993 are of 50’x80’ dimension,101 are of 60’x90’               dimension and 9 are of 80’x120’ dimension. Of the allotted sites, 26,147 sites have remained vacant for years.

The erstwhile CITB had for-med 23 extensions in the city between 1967-68 and 1988 and allotted 6,434 sites. In the years from 1967-68 to 1980, CITB had formed New Bamboo Bazaar, South of Jayanagar, South-East of Mahadevapura, North-East of Mahadevapura, Brindavan Extension, Gokulam Second Stage (total 632 sites), Saraswathipuram (398 sites), Metagalli, Kumbarakoppal, East of Karanji Kere, area near German Press (total 936 sites), Gokulam Third Stage (568 sites), Bannimantap (198 sites) and Jayanagar E, F and H Blocks (644 sites) residential Layouts.

From 1980 to 1988, the  CITB had formed Metagalli Coffee Curing Works Colony, Bannimantap (total 240 sites), Jayanagar M Block, Old Kesare (total 653 sites), Nachanahallipalya, Kesare Third Stage, Alanahalli (total 1,527 sites) and Vijayanagar First Stage (638 sites) Layouts. With the formation of 23 Layouts, the CITB had distributed a total of 6,434 sites.

After the CITB was renamed as MUDA in 1988, the Government Authority in 1989, formed Vijayanagar First and Second Stages, Kyathamaranahalli, Sathagalli, Devanur and Dattagalli (total 1,600 sites), Nachanahallipalya First Stage, Devanur Second Stage, Srirampura, Vijayanagar Third Stage and Hebbal (total 2,740 sites) in 1991; Dattagalli Third Stage, Vijayanagar Fourth Stage, Rajivnagar Second Stage, Srirampura Second Stage and Nachanahallipalya Second stage (total 12,044 sites) in 1994; Vijayanagar Fourth Stage and Sathagalli Second Stage (total 5,787 sites) in 1998; Hanchya-Sathagalli and Devanur Third Stage (total 6,990 sites) in 2001-02 and Vasanthnagar (1,720 sites), Lalbahadur Shastrinagar and Shantaveri Gopalagowda Nagar (total 3,690 sites), Lalitadrinagar (1,278 sites), Chamalapura in Nanjangud (61 sites), R.T. Nagar (1,760 sites) and Lalitadrinagar (541 sites) Layouts  between 2002 and 2017.

According to MUDA Commissioner P.S. Kantharaju, a total of 26,147 MUDA allotted sites have remained vacant, while 9,508 sites have remained  unallotted in various extensions and Layouts, most of which are corner and stray sites, which MUDA has proposed to auction in the coming days.

Private Layouts dot city outskirts

Even as the Government Body MUDA is struggling to find land for formation of residential Layouts and allot sites to the applicants who are waiting for years, the Private Layouts have sprung up all around the city. Private Builders, Developers, Realtors and Housing Co-operative Societies have so far distributed over 70,000 sites around the city in the past 20 years, a whopping 20,000 sites more than what the erstwhile CITB and now MUDA have allotted in over 50 years.

Gnanaganga Housing Co-operative Society has distributed 12,000 sites in Mandakalli, Dhanagalli, Udbur, Kergalli and Nagarthahalli; Police Housing Co-operative Society has distributed 5,000 sites in Netajinagar, Vallabhbhai Patel Nagar and Lalitadripura; Telecom Employees Housing Society 15,000 sites in Belwadi, Yelwal, Nagavala and surrounding areas; JSS Housing Society 3,500 sites in Sathagalli, Koppalur, Lalitadripura and Varuna surroundings; Basaveshwara Housing Society 1,500 sites in Varuna and surrounding areas; Health Department Employees Housing Society over 2,500 sites at different locations in the outskirts of the city; Teachers Housing Society 1,250 sites in Sathagalli and surrounding areas; SBM Housing Society 1,500 sites in Bogadi and surrounding areas and Government Employees Housing Society has distributed over 1,000 sites in different areas surrounding the city. 

Apart from these major Housing Co-operative Societies, several other Societies too are busily engaged in forming Layouts and distributing sites to their members.

With Private Layouts mushrooming in the city, the job of MUDA, which is supposed to form Layouts and allot sites to the aspirants at affordable prices, seems to have limited to just issuance of plan approvals, compliance of RERA (Real Estate Regulatory Authority) Act, Khata Registration and the like. Will the dreams of thousands of elderly site aspirants be realised in their life time?