Fencing on Makkaji Chowk road cleared; open for movement

Mysore/Mysuru: The barricades and fencing laid by the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) on the road from Gandhi Square to Sayyaji Rao Road via Olympia Theatre have been cleared this morning, following a High Court order.

The fencing on Makkaji Chowk Road was removed in the presence of Court Ameen (Bailiff) M.H. Nagaraj. 

It is a part of the Vinoba Road that runs between Gandhi Square till Yelwal and was earlier called Yelwal Road, before it was renamed as Vinoba Road.

The Mysuru Rakshana Vedike had approached the Court against the MCC move to hand over the prime 1.25-acre land at Makkaji Chowk to Maverick Holdings and Investment Pvt. Ltd., which has built the Garuda Mall in Bengaluru and Mysuru on the Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) basis.  

The MCC passed a resolution to hand over the land for 25 years and as per the MCC’s decision, the 3.40 lakh square feet commercial facility on 4.19 acres was cleared and work on the shopping and entertainment mall was taken up.

As part of the agreement, the prime 1.25-acre land was handed over to the private entity. MCC had endorsed the agreement with Maverick on September 30, 2005.

As the controversy and public protests over the land transfer intensified, the MCC closed the road from Gandhi Square to Dufferin Clock Tower. Even in the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP), the road has been clearly mentioned. The road, extending up to 50 ft from North to South and 150 ft from East to West was fenced and entry was banned. This move was questioned in the Court by Mysuru Rakshana Vedike.

Of the 1.25-acre land, there is Garuda Mall to the East adjacent to the Gandhi Square, to the West is Sayyaji Rao Road adjacent to Clock Tower, to the South is K.R. Circle (MCC Main Office Building) and to the North is Indra Cafe and Olympia Theatre.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Mysuru Rakshana Vedike President My.Ka. Prem Kumar said that the MCC had handed over the Government land to Maverick illegally and unilaterally, despite protests from the residents and public.

“We were arrested for the protests. Later we procured the agreement between Maverick and the MCC and we approached the Court in Mysuru as the MCC had closed the historic road and attached 1.25 acres of land to the private commercial complex,” he said.

As per the MCC-Maverick agreement, vehicles coming from Gandhi Square had to mandatorily take a right turn and take a circuitous route through Hanumantha Rao Street as the Vinoba Road stretch is closed. “In 2009, the District Court ruled in our favour and upheld the public interest by nullifying the MCC-Maverick agreement,” he said.

However, the MCC appealed in the higher Court and the Court made a permanent decree and ruled in public interest. “The MCC did not act for three years and on the pretext of making and designing the Raja Marga, it closed the road,” Prem Kumar revealed.

“We again fought to clear the road and filed a contempt of Court petition. As an arrest warrant was issued against the MCC Commissioner, the MCC immediately went to the High Court to stay the hearing procedure at the District Court. We went to the High Court and recently, the HC reinforced the District Court’s 2009 decree and asked the MCC to clear the fencing. It also has asked the District Court to submit an Action Taken Report in public interest,” Prem Kumar added.

This post was published on June 8, 2023 7:43 pm