Site allocation initially cancelled as rules were violated; approved after Siddaramaiah’s letter

Mysuru: A case dated 11.3.2024 has come to light now revealing that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had personally directed the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) Commissioner to grant approval for the construction of a building on approximately 2.5 acres (10,250.20 sq.m) of Civic Amenity (CA) site.

This approval had previously been revoked by MUDA due to violations of regulations, as the intended building had not been constructed within the specified time frame.

The latest case is likely to have significant repercussions, especially in light of the Karnataka High Court upholding the Governor’s prosecution sanction granted to Siddaramaiah by dismissing his petition.

Additionally, the Special Court for People’s Representatives has ordered the Mysuru Lokayukta SP to register an FIR and initiate an investigation into the allotment of 14 MUDA sites to the Chief Minister’s wife, B.M. Parvathi, in the upscale Vijayanagar area under a 50:50 ratio, in exchange for a 3.16-acre land parcel at Kesare.

The letter, numbered 750238/2024 and dated March 11, 2024, written on the Government of Karnataka letterhead and signed by Siddaramaiah himself, directs the MUDA Commissioner to take necessary action. A copy of this letter has been accessed by Star of Mysore.

What’s in the CM’s note?

“Sri T. Babu, Head of the J. Ranganna Lakshmamma Charitable Trust (Reg.), Kanakadasanagar, Dattagalli, Mysuru, has sought assistance to construct a building on Civic Amenity (CA) site number: CA-01, covering 10,250.20 square metres in Somnathanagar (Kergalli) Layout, developed by the Mysuru Government Employees’ House Building Cooperative Society. He explained that the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted school and institutional activities, causing delays in starting construction. Due to this delay, the approval for the CA site was cancelled. He now requests the revocation of the cancellation order and assistance to facilitate the construction of the building on the CA site.”

Accordingly, in response to the applicant’s request, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah signed a note on March 11, 2024, directing the then MUDA Commissioner to take the necessary steps to revoke the cancellation order for the mentioned CA site and grant approval for the construction of a building on the site.

Chairman’s directive for CA sites review

On one hand, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has directed the approval for construction on a CA site that was previously cancelled by MUDA for rule violations. On the other hand, MUDA Chairman K. Marigowda, known to be a close aide of Siddaramaiah, took serious note of multiple complaints during yesterday’s MUDA meeting, held after a gap of 9 months.

The Chairman’s order followed numerous allegations that several previously allotted Civic Amenity (CA) sites were not being used for their intended purposes. Instead, shops were illegally constructed and rented out, in violation of MUDA’s rules and regulations.

Therefore, it has come as a surprise that MUDA Chairman Marigowda has directed the Special Tahsildars to personally review and submit comprehensive details on the total number of allotted CA sites, applications received from the public for CA site allocations, pending Court cases and any rule violations concerning these sites. This directive underscores the seriousness with which the situation is being addressed.

Likewise, Marigowda issued a stern directive yesterday to the MUDA Secretary and Special Land Acquisition Officers to identify and accurately survey illegally encroached MUDA lands and properties worth thousands of crores of rupees. He instructed them to remove the encroachments without hesitation and install fencing, along with mandatory signage, declaring the land as ‘Property of MUDA’ at those sites.

A case of fence eating the crop

CA sites are allotted by MUDA to organisations and trusts at highly concessional rates with the expectation that they construct buildings within a stipulated period and carry out activities beneficial to the public. However, in many cases, these conditions are blatantly disregarded.

Over the past 40 years, despite thousands of CA sites being sanctioned across Mysuru city, 80 percent of the organisations, societies and trusts have violated these rules and misused Government facilities.

When those in the highest positions of power, such as the Chief Minister, revoke cancellations of CA sites for rule violations and approve construction on them, will officials have the courage to reclaim CA sites that have broken regulations? If those entrusted with upholding the law themselves disregard it, isn’t this akin to the fence eating the crop? This is the pressing question now being raised by the public.

Was additional land sanctioned?

In the 2017-18 fiscal year, through a notification, approximately one acre of Civic Amenity (CA) site number CA-01 was sanctioned to the J. Ranganna Lakshmamma Charitable Trust in the Kergalli layout of Mysuru, developed by the Government Employees’ House Building Cooperative Society. The Title Deed was issued to the Trust in the 2018-19 fiscal year.

Subsequently, when MUDA officials went to the site to demarcate the boundaries, they discovered an additional one-and-a-half acres of land beyond the sanctioned area of the CA site.

In response, senior officials took steps to partition the extra land. However, following a resubmission of Trust’s application to MUDA, allegations have surfaced that approximately one-and-a-half acres of this additional land has been sanctioned as a CA site without bringing the matter to the attention of the MUDA Board General meetings.