Former Mayor Sandesh Swamy inspects the disputed spot at Satya Nagar; road between dalits burial ground and P&T Quarters shut

Mysore/Mysuru: A public road in the city has been converted into a market and Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) itself is the alleged culprit.

The road between dalits burial ground and P&T Quarters in Ward-14 (Satya Nagar) of MCC has been converted into the market, with MCC building shed type shelters for the benefit of street vendors, which has not gone down well with the public.

Following the information from locals, former Mayor S. Satish (Sandesh Swamy) visited the spot along with several leaders and inspected the market in question. The locals complained that despite their plea on building the market by closing down the road, MCC Officials turned deaf ears and have continued with the works.

Swamy said: “Supreme Court order prohibits any construction activities on roads and footpaths, on the basis of which several religious structures were also cleared in the city. While the rules are being followed across the country, it is thrown into the wind by MCC itself violating the SC order in a nonchalant manner, which is highly condemnable.”

The road has been closed and the market with 70 stalls are built at an estimated cost of Rs. 90 lakh. The road, which existed for seven to eight decades, is also identified as road in Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP). Without taking this into cognisance, the public road has been misused for another purpose, said Swamy.

“When the locals brought to my notice that, following the closure of the road with the market structure coming up, the people have lost easy access between the burial ground junction and P&T Quarters, I immediately conveyed it to MCC Officers. I had also requested not to construct the market in violation of rules. But no action was taken in this regard,” he added.

“If the MCC Officers behave like ‘fence eating the crop’, it will give a license for others to usurp the lands of others. Either the Deputy Commissioner or Police Commissioner should have acted on this, as per Road Safety Act, but even they have chosen to remain silent. If no action is taken in public interest, I will wage a legal battle on behalf of the people,” said Swamy.

BJP leaders Bhanuprakash, Muralidhar, Narasimha Murthy, Velu and others were present during the occasion.

Memorandum to DC, MCC Commissioner

A memorandum has been submitted to Deputy Commissioner (DC) and Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) Commissioner alleging that, succumbing to somebody’s pressure, MCC Officers have built the market. Several structures have been already cleared from the footpaths complying with the Court order. Accordingly, inspection should be conducted and structures be removed from public roads for the convenience of general public. Action should also be taken against MCC Officers for unauthorised building of the structure and those related to the illegality.