• Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar Layout
• Swarna Jayanti Nagar Layout
• Shanthaveri Gopalagowda Layout
• R.T. Nagar Second Stage
• Ballahalli Layout

Mysuru:  The Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) will form five new residential layouts in the city in view of rapid urbanisation and population growth. The five layouts are Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar Layout, Swarna Jayanti Nagar Layout, Shanthaveri Gopalagowda Layout, R.T. Nagar Second Stage and Ballahalli Layout. In all, MUDA is targeting to distribute 7,000 sites.

The proposal to form the Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar Layout and Swarna Jayanti Nagar Layout was sent to the government 10 years back and it has been delayed ever since. Now the government has accorded clearance, said MUDA officials. They said that a notification has already been issued for land acquisition under the Karnataka Urban Development Authorities Act 1987 and Karnataka Land Acquisition Act, 1961.

Likewise, the process of forming other two Layouts — Shanthaveri Gopalagowda Layout and Ballahalli Layout — has already started. While the Ballahalli Layout is already on cards and the proposal has been sent to the State Government, the Shanthaveri Gopalagowda Layout process will be speeded up.

Speaking to Star of Mysore this morning, MUDA Commissioner P.S. Kantharaj said that all the Layouts will be inspected by him along with other MUDA officials in a day or two. He will be accompanied by Superintending Engineer B.K. Suresh Babu, Executive Engineers Raju and Prabhakar, Special Land Acquisition Officer Indramma and Town Planning Member Girish and other officials.

A Joint Measurement Committee, comprising MUDA and Revenue Department Officials, have been formed and they are in the process of checking the land documents, land extent, litigations and possible legal tangles.

While the Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar Layout will be formed in a 36-acre land at Chikkalli, Chouhalli and Yedahalli beyond Ravindranath Tagore Nagar (R.T. Nagar), the Swarna Jayanti Nagar Layout will be formed at Aalalu near Yelwal hobli in a land that extends to 75 acres.

The Ballahalli Layout will be developed in 280-acre land while Shanthaveri Gopalagowda Layout will be formed in 250-acre land at Uthanahalli and Bandipalya. MUDA is also developing the R.T. Nagar Second Stage in 89 acres of land and will form over 1,000 sites.

Of late, MUDA is facing severe shortage of land and people have accused it of failing on its basic function – to identify and provide land for residents of Mysuru. There are more than one-and-a-half lakh pending applications from site aspirants and the number of applicants has only increased.

MUDA has only been able to complete the process of allotting land at R.T. Nagar and Lalithadrinagar Second Stage that were proposed 15 years back only in December last year. To add to the MUDA woes, most of the lands on the city outskirts have been purchased by private developers and many layouts have already been formed. The inability to distribute sites has affected MUDA’s financial performance as revenue generation has hit a low.

Even the ambitious plan of developing Ballahalli Layout, near Koorgalli, out of 280-acre land, is pending approval from the government. MUDA had plans of developing the proposed residential layout at Ballahalli into a full-fledged satellite township to disperse growth and decongest the city. Now with five new layouts, MUDA hopes to fulfil the aspirations of at least a few                          site aspirants.

While acquiring land for new layouts, the MUDA will follow the 50:50 formula where 50 percent of the developed sites will be given free of cost to land owners or farmers whose land have been acquired. This formula has been worked out by MUDA to avoid litigations and claims of more compensation.

In new layouts, 16 sites can be formed in one acre of land after leaving out space and earmarking roads, drainage, Underground Drainage (UGD), power lines, parks, open space, Civic Amenity (CA) sites and corner sites.

As per this plan, the 36-acre Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar Nagar will have 576 sites and sites will be shared by MUDA and the land owners on a 50:50 ratio. Accordingly, MUDA will get 288 sites and the land owners will get the rest. In the 75-acre Swarna Jayanti Nagar will have 1,200 sites and MUDA will have ownership of 600 sites while the remaining will be owned by land owners. Sites of other layouts too will follow the same rule.