Rain havoc opposite Commissioner’s house!

Mysore/Mysuru: The misery caused by relentless rains in Bengaluru has been blamed on greedy builders and developers encroaching and constructing buildings upon Storm Water Drains (SWDs).  But our own Mysuru is not far behind. In fact, here, the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) is itself a major culprit.

MCC, which should set an example for the city by following laws, rules and regulations, recently closed the SWD in front of ‘Villa Vani Vilasa’, the MCC Commissioner’s official residence in Yadavagiri.

Believe it or not, MCC filled up the SWD with concrete as part of a beautification project.

Result: When there are rains, water rushes on to the main road in front of the MCC Commissioner’s residence instead of flowing into the SWD. In addition, there is heavy water-logging on the road due to unscientific installation of speed-breakers.

Water also routinely gushes into the homes of hapless residents of the Railway Loco Colony on the other side of the road as the height of the pavement has been reduced as per the whims of MCC engineers.

“This shameful sight is now a daily spectacle even when there are no rains as water spills from the tankers exiting Vani Vilas Water Works,” says a local resident who has brought the situation to the notice of MCC Commissioner G. Lakshmikantha Reddy and  Divisional Railway Manager Rahul Agarwal.

“If such a gross violation had been made by ordinary residents, MCC would have brought a JCB excavator and demolished it,” says another resident.

The sad spectacle of a City Corporation itself violating the rule book was first flagged in a reader’s letter to Star of Mysore on July 19, 2022. Shockingly, for a city which was one of the first in the country to have a Town Planning Authority, it fell on deaf ears.

Hopefully, MCC will wake up before Mysuru becomes another Bengaluru.