Technical Committee report questions the integrity of MUDA’s land allotment practices

Mysore/Mysuru: In a clear case of fence eating the crop, Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) officials have been accused of allotting about 4,500 to 5,000 sites under a 50:50 ratio to land losers, by blatantly circumventing the rules.

This controversy has brought shame to the City Improvement Trust Board (CITB), founded by the visionary Maharaja of Mysore, Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar, which later became MUDA.

The CITB was established to develop Mysuru in a planned manner, providing sites and housing facilities to eligible beneficiaries. Instead, it is now (MUDA) in the spotlight for the wrong reasons.

The large-scale irregularities were revealed in a report by a Technical Committee constituted by the Government to investigate a complaint submitted by P.S. Nataraj. The Committee, led by Additional Director of Planning T.V. Murali, included Executive Engineer of Mysuru District Urban Development Cell (DUDC) Narasu Kalantre, Town Planning Officer of Shivamogga City Corporation B.R. Kallinath and Joint Director (Town and Rural Planning) M.S. Shanthala.

Procedural lapses

The findings highlight significant procedural lapses and call into question the integrity of MUDA’s land allotment practices.

According to the Committee’s report, MUDA failed to seek approval for the blueprint of the plan, which includes earmarking 15 percent of the total land for parks and 10 percent for civic amenities. The report also noted the failure to account for land that had been denotified or dropped for other reasons.

Under the Karnataka Urban Development Authorities (KUDA) Act, MUDA must acquire lands outside the project area in compliance with the prescribed rules. However, these rules have been flouted. No prior permission was taken from the Government, yet development works were undertaken on lands adjacent to the project area, and sites were allotted based on a report submitted by MUDA’s Technical Branch, according to the Technical Committee report.

Furthermore, after completing the allotment process for sites in residential layouts developed by MUDA several years ago, alternative sites were allotted to land losers based on a note citing a lack of information about the compensation awarded to them.

Sites allotted in prestigious layouts

Instead of allotting sites on land used for development, the sites were allotted in prestigious layouts to the land losers under a 50:50 ratio. Middle and stray/bit of land sites were also allotted as alternative sites, leading to suspicions of large-scale irregularities worth several crores of rupees.

It is alleged that despite having no legal provisions, a MUDA meeting held on Sept. 14, 2020, resolved to allot sites under the 50:50 ratio for lands used in site development without completing the land acquisition process or providing any compensation to the land owners. Consequently, MUDA allotted an estimated 4,500 to 5,000 sites worth several crores of rupees in prime residential layouts developed by it, including Vijayanagar, Dattagalli, J.P. Nagar and R.T. Nagar.

Several associations and organisations lodged complaints with the State Government, leading to a conflict between the MUDA Chairman and Commissioner. The Chairman issued a notice to the Commissioner for allotting sites and causing a substantial loss to the State exchequer.