Mysore/Mysuru: M.G. Road has finally become clutter-free, presenting a completely transformed scene.

Once plagued by traffic snarls due to haphazardly parked vegetable-laden vehicles, wandering vendors, roadside vegetable sales, foraging cattle and stray dogs, the busy road now offers a neat and orderly view. This improvement is thanks to the intervention of top district officials and the diligent monitoring by the City Police and Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) staff.

During their visit to M.G. Road on June 18, Deputy Commissioner Dr. K.V. Rajendra, City Police Commissioner Ramesh Banoth, Mysuru City Corporation Commissioner Ashaad-Ur-Rahman Shariff and other senior officers directed their subordinates to ensure order on the road.

The DC instructed the MCC to maintain cleanliness by stationing permanent Pourakarmikas and installing barricades between the road and the market to prevent vendors and vehicles from encroaching on the road.

He asked the Police to ensure that vehicles carrying vegetables and fruits enter the market for loading and unloading, rather than parking on the road. CCTV cameras were to be installed at strategic points to enforce this rule, with penalties for violations.

These directives have been effective, and the road now looks clean with orderly traffic. Vehicles carrying vegetables from the hinterland and outside the district enter the market directly without being parked on the road outside the market. Police from Siddhartha Traffic Station ensure that all activity remains within the market, keeping the road free for moving vehicles only.

Median and barricades

“There is strict monitoring by the MCC Abhaya team. Following the DC’s and MCC Commissioner’s directives, a 350-metre road median with a height of 1.2 metres will be laid from the underbridge to the Mall of Mysore at an estimated cost of Rs. 40 lakh. A new 1.4-metre concrete barricade with an estimated cost of Rs. 40 lakh will be laid at the entrance of the vegetable market to prevent vendors from entering the road. Vehicle entry will be provided at one or two places within the barricades,” MCC Superintending Engineer K.J. Sindhu, who is also the Deputy Commissioner (Development), told Star of Mysore this morning.

The Rs. 80 lakh work orders for the median and barricade have been issued, and work will begin soon, she added. “We will also install CCTV cameras at vantage points on M.G. Road to strictly enforce rules. After a grace period for raising awareness among vendors, violators will be penalised,” she added.

The MCC and Traffic Police will explore options to facilitate direct connectivity from the backside of the vegetable market for vehicles transporting produce from H.D. Kote, T. Narasipur, and Nanjangud via Mysore Race Club (behind Kamat Hotel).

“There is a huge ditch behind the vegetable market, and efforts will be made to close it to create a road for the smooth entry of vehicles to the market from behind. This will ease the pressure on the front side of the market,” she said.

NOTE: This is proof that top officials who take tough decisions when things get tough indeed can deliver good governance. They explain and convince their political masters rather than remaining “Yes masters” at the cost of disservice to the public.

It is for this reason, in Mysore we remember officers like L. Revannasiddaiah IPS, Kasturirangan IPS, Bipin Gopalakrishna IPS and of course, Kempaiah IPS. —Ed.