Mysuru: Former Mayor Sandesh Swamy has urged the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) to revise the existing building plan approval process and restore a decentralised system to ensure quicker and more citizen-friendly civic services.

In a memorandum to MCC Commissioner M.K. Savitha, he said during the tenure of P. Manivannan, the MCC’s administration had been decentralised into nine zones, with powers relating to building plan approvals, khata registration, khata transfer and other civic services delegated to Zonal Commissioners.

Under the earlier system, building plans for residential sites measuring up to 60×40 ft. could be approved at the zonal level, enabling citizens to obtain approvals without unnecessary delays, he said.

Swamy alleged that the decentralised system has since been discontinued, resulting in delays and inconvenience. Building plan files now have to pass through several levels of scrutiny, forcing applicants to visit multiple offices.

He claimed that in many cases, approvals are delayed by three to four months, creating scope for middlemen to exploit applicants.

The former Mayor urged the MCC to restore the earlier decentralised system by empowering zonal offices to process building plan approvals. He also called for administrative reforms to ensure that all civic services are delivered within a fixed timeframe.