Mysuru:  Chaotic scenes were witnessed at the Adalat organised by Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) this morning and even before the event began, heated arguments ensued between a section of site aspirants and Urban Development Minister U.T. Khader. As the situation was going out of control, Tourism and Sericulture Minister S.R. Mahesh intervened and asked the site aspirants to behave properly.

The Adalat was chaired by Minister Khader and a large number of people had assembled at the MUDA Office on JLB Road where a pendal had been put up for the people to wait. Over 203 people had applied for the Adalat to hear their long-pending grievances. Before the Adalat began, a group of site aspirants questioned Khader about the inordinate delay in distribution of sites.

“We have applied for sites many years ago and sites have not yet been sanctioned and even for the sanctioned sites, MUDA is asking us to take back the money (deposit refund). Several applications are pending regarding alternative sites and MUDA officers are not doing enough to mitigate the housing problem in a city like Mysuru where land is abundantly available,” they alleged.

The Urban Development Minister, who was giving a patient ear to the grievances trying to pacify the crowd, lost his cool when some site aspirants alleged that MUDA and Ministers were practicing nepotism while allotting sites. Both the Minister and the public spoke with raised voice. The Minister asked the public to give their grievances in writing instead of arguing and disrupting the Adalat proceedings.

As the situation was going out of control, Tourism Minister S.R. Mahesh who was also present at the meeting, intervened and asked the public to maintain decorum. “You learn to talk properly and you cannot bully a government organisation. Sites will be distributed as per law and MUDA is doing the same thing,” the Minister said.

After the crowd was pacified, the Adalat proceedings began inside the MUDA office. In all, there were 203 applications and the issues included alternative sites, bit of land sanction, Khata transfer, possession certificate, revenue fixing, land acquisition compensation and civic amenities. Tokens were distributed to site aspirants and grievances were heard batch by batch.

OFFICIALS TAKEN TO TASK

Hearing the cases, Khader said that most of the grievances could have been sorted out at the official level instead of bringing them to the Adalat that requires intervention of the Minister. Taking MUDA officials to task, a livid Khader said that some minor issues were pending since 15 to 20 years. “You must be responsible and you can’t make people run from pillar to post for a small issue,” he told the officers.

The Minister told them that despite having experience in land matters, MUDA officers were not resolving even a minor issue. “This must stop and please step into their shoes to understand their troubles,” he said.

SBI LAYOUT: During the Adalat, Minister Khader was told that at the SBI Layout in Srirampura, many Civic Amenities (CA) sites that were meant for parks, community halls and educational institutions were distributed among residents and some of them even constructed houses there. As such, there is no place for civic amenities and the residents were not getting original records for the land.

The Minister was told that these CA sites were sold during 1998. Responding on the issue, Khader said that the government will prosecute the officers who were holding the reins of MUDA in 1998. “These CA sites will be retained as per plan and alternative sites will be given to those who have built houses on them,” he said.

Higher Education Minister G.T. Devegowda, MUDA Commissioner P.S. Kantharaj, Mandya MP L.R. Shivaramegowda and others were present.