Calls to implement T.M. Vijaya Bhaskar’s report; wants MUDA to be restructured to serve poor

Mysore/Mysuru: Mysore Grahakara Parishat (MGP) has demanded the publication of the list of all Civic Amenities (CA) sites given away within the Mysuru city limits by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA). The demand comes in the wake of irregularities in MUDA site distribution under the controversial 50:50 ratio.

“We demand the p publication of the CA site list so that their misuse by unscrupulous elements can come into the public domain. The people have the right to know how MUDA has distributed the CA sites and who all have misused them,” MGP founder Bhamy V. Shenoy said.

Addressing a press conference at Pathrakarthara Bhavan in the city this morning, Bhamy Shenoy, along with retired MUDA officer B.S. Nataraj said that there has been a blatant misuse of CA sites since the last 50 years in all the areas of Mysuru including posh localities where CA sites meant for schools have been converted into private hospitals, petrol pumps, private schools and for other commercial purposes. The list must be made public and rule of law must be enforced,” he said.

“During former DC P. Manivannan’s tenure, he revealed that there are more than 200 CA sites that have been misused. We demand the Government to undertake a study to look into the misuse of CA sites and take appropriate action,” he said.

CBI probe

On the site distribution scandal at MUDA and the ongoing investigation, the MGP demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe for an impartial investigation. “There are doubts in the minds of people regarding the ongoing investigation by an Inquiry Committee led by a senior IAS Officer and the one-man Judicial Commission ordered by the State Government. Only a CBI probe will dispel the doubts,”  he noted.

“The MUDA scam is gaining prominence day by day due to the name of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah being associated with the scandal as his wife Parvathi has got 14 sites in the upscale Vijayanagar in place of 3.16-acre land acquired by MUDA in Kesare-Devanur. But apart from this scam where a VIP has benefitted, many other scandals in MUDA must come to light,” he noted.

Former Mysuru DC T.M. Vijaya Bhaskar — who retired as Chief Secretary — filed a technical report on MUDA affairs. This report should be made public and recommendations should be implemented in full, the MGP demanded. Other demands of the MGP are: To comply with the 74th amendment to the Constitution, MUDA should be restructured to serve the poor and to have a world-class master plan for the overall development of Mysuru. Every effort should be made to remove all encroachments along the Rajakaluve and the Dewan Poornaiah Canal that bring rainwater into the Kukkarahalli Lake.

MGP members S. Shobhana, B.S. Nataraj, Bhanuprashanth and Venkatesh Karidi  were present.