Mysuru: In a major step to scientifically clear two lakh tonnes of waste piled up at the Solid Waste Management Unit at Sewage Farm in Vidyaranyapuram here, the District Administration has now decided to adopt Nagpur model.

A team of officers and elected representatives, led by the Deputy Commissioner, will visit Nagpur to learn about the technology.

District Minister V. Somanna, who held a meeting with officials at the Zilla Panchayat (ZP) auditorium yesterday, said that the Government is all set to implement bio-mining, which is a technique used for extracting metals from ores and other solid materials.

Pointing out that the bio-mining technique will be implemented to clear two lakh tonnes of waste piled up at the Sewage Farm, he said that a team, comprising the Deputy Commissioner (DC), Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) Commissioner, the Mayor and other officials, will visit Nagpur and conduct a study on the landfill there.

The team may visit Nagpur before Jan.3 and will submit a report for early implementation of the project, he added. He further said that the project will cost Rs.18 crore, with the MCC funding Rs.3 crore, Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) Rs.5 crore and the State Government Rs.10 crore.

Fate of heritage structures

With the debate still on whether to demolish the iconic Lansdowne building and Devaraja Market, Somanna set Jan.3 as the deadline to come to a conclusion over the issue.

Somanna instructed the District Administration to discuss the issue with all stakeholders and come up with a final report by Jan.3, whether to demolish and rebuild or to restore the two architectural landmarks located in the heart of the city.

Bringing to notice of the contradictory reports given by various agencies on the fate of Devaraja Market, DC Abhiram G. Sankar pointed out that the Karnataka High Court had directed the District Administration to decide if the Market building needs to be restored or demolished.

He further said that the MCC in its Council Meeting recommended demolition of the Market, while the Task Force Committee submitted a report recommending rebuilding of the structure and a Heritage Committee consisting of Heritage experts suggested restoration. Also, officials of Karnataka Engineering Research Station (KERS) at KRS, who took up the issue, too submitted a technical report saying that the Devaraja Market has no load-bearing capacity and it would be difficult to preserve the Market, Sankar said and added that the contradictory reports given by experts and various agencies caused the delay in taking an appropriate decision on the issue.

Minister Somanna later suggested the DC, MCC and MUDA Commissioners to inspect the two heritage structures and discuss the issue with the stakeholders. He also directed to hold discussions with the shop vendors who are opposing the demolition and to come up with solutions for tackling the issue, which is bothering the city.

Mysore Grahakara Parishat’s (MGP) Dr. Bhami V. Shenoy requested the Minister to restore the iconic structures using advanced technologies, to which the Minister said that apart from preserving heritage structures, it was equally important to consider the safety of the people and the District Administration has been directed to submit a report after discussing the issue with the stakeholders.

MUDA asked to maintain street lights on Ring Road

District Minister asked MUDA authorities to maintain street lights on the Ring Road. 

Stating that the public have been complaining of poor maintenance of street lights post-Dasara, he said that the MUDA had done a commendable job during Dasara by lighting up the Ring Road. But later on he came to know that Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC) had disconnected power supply due to non-payment of bills, which has led to poor lighting on Ring Road, he said.

Assuring that he will make efforts to release grants if MUDA was facing fund shortage for the purpose, he said that keeping the Ring Road under the cover of darkness was not correct. He asked MUDA officials to take up the responsibility of maintaining street lights on Ring Road.

Chamundeshwari MLA G.T. Devegowda (GTD) questioned MUDA officials on the lack of civic amenities in Layouts coming within the Ring Road.

Claiming that most of the Layouts coming under his constituency were facing similar problems, he opined that the MCC would have taken care of the civic amenities had the Layouts been handed over to it.

Chamaraja MLA L. Nagendra too supported GTD on the issue. Maintaining that many manholes in the city were overflowing due to poor maintenance, he took the officials to task for indiscreet digging of roads. 

GTD appealed Minister Somanna to visit Ekalavyanagar in order to personally know about the plight of the residents living in the area and the problems regarding JnNURM houses.

MP Pratap Simha, Mayor Pushpalatha Jagannath, ZP CEO K. Jyothi, MCC Commissioner Gurudatta Hegde, Additional Commissioner Shashikumar, MUDA Superintending Engineer Prabhakar, City Planning Member B.N. Girish and other officials were present.

Minister instructs to stop work on modern abattoir

Following severe opposition from residents of Old Kesare and surrounding areas, District Minister V. Somanna instructed the officials to stop the works on modern abattoir. The residents had strongly opposed the construction of the modern abattoir near the Outer Ring Road (ORR) in Kesare.

The residents maintained that it was unscientific to set up the slaughter house at this area as it puts the health of thousands of people living near the area at risk. They also demanded to shift it to elsewhere.

Taking note of the strong public opposition, the Minister instructed the officials to stop the work on the abattoir, which the MCC has proposed to build at a cost of Rs.40 crore.