• Vegetable market stretch a bane for motorists & ambulances
• Administration has NO Solution?

Motorists are finding it difficult to traverse on the stretch of M.G. Road after Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel till the under-bridge as goods vehicles bringing vegetables, fruits and greens from various places park the   vehicles on the road haphazardly.

Every day in the morning from 6 to 11, office goers, autos carrying school children and those hurrying during emergencies are finding it difficult to reach their destinations on time due to traffic hazards caused by goods vehicles parked in a haphazard manner and even buyers parking their vehicles on the road during rush hours.

Again from 6 pm to 1 am, the same situation arises with more number of vehicles including tourists vehicles and buses getting stranded on this stretch of the road.

Ambulances from nearby JSS Hospital are stranded here for long hours.

“It is hardly a kilometre from Radisson Hotel to JSS Hospital, but vehicles sometimes take nearly 20 to 30 minutes to pass this stretch as vehicles have to navigate goods autos, vegetable shoppers, cows and tea vendors,” a motorist, who travels daily on this stretch said.

“Sometimes we have to shift to the opposite lane because our lane is completely blocked for unloading of vegetables,” he added.

More importantly this road connects to JSS Hospital and many times ambulances are stuck in this chaotic patch causing patient’s to lose precious life-saving time.

Here, one cannot blame the farmers, who bring vegetables, fruits and greens from far places, because it takes time for them to unload their produce and in the absence of dedicated space for them to unload, the goods vehicles in which they bring their produce stop on the road till the unloading is over.

This problem has been going on ever since the vegetable market was shifted to this location a few years ago.

Though the chaotic traffic situation  on this road is known to officials of various Departments, no action has been taken. The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) and the Police Department should have found a solution to this issue. But officials of the civic body and the Police Department have turned a blind eye toward it resulting in common man suffering.

This small patch of wholesale market is part of the 145 acre 13 gunta land belonging to the Karnataka Exhibition Authority.

This patch of land was donated by the erstwhile Mysore rulers for public purpose in the year 1950. But the market land was auctioned by the Income Tax Department a few years ago and it was bought by a private party, who in turn sold it to another person.

The person, who had bought the land moved the Supreme Court, when the then Deputy Commissioner P. Manivannan, who was also in-charge of Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA), with the intention of providing shelter to the vegetable vendors had initiated construction of zinc sheet shelters.

MUDA had also sanctioned Rs. 25 lakh for construction of the shelters, of which Rs. 20 lakh was utilised. The pending works included provision of toilets, drinking water facility and a trench. However, with the Court orders that the status quo of the property be maintained with regard to its nature, title and position, the construction works were stopped.

Even the vegetable traders had refused to move inside the market stating that customers do not come inside to purchase vegetables and began conducting business on the roadside which has now caused extreme traffic problems.

Will the MCC either force the vegetable vendors to move their business away from the road to the designated area or can they provide an alternate land where farmers can unload their produce without hindering traffic and causing inconvenience to the larger population is to be seen.

For now, the Traffic Police in good strength must monitor traffic here from morning 6 to 11 and evening from 6 to 1 am.

What Govt. must do to solve the problem?

Since law of the land provides for acquiring private land if required for a public purpose, the best way to solve this problem, now stuck in a Law Court, is to settle the case by compromise or by requesting the Court for urgent hearing in the public interest. If the private party (who bought this land in IT Department auction) wins the case, the government must acquire this land by paying compensation as per law.