A circle with a Clock Tower is named after the Chief Minister in University Layout attached to Dattagalli Outer Ring Road

Mysuru: As the row over the proposal to rename KRS Road in the city after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah escalates, here comes a revelation.

A circle with a Clock Tower at University Layout (Lingambudipalya) on Dattagalli Outer Ring Road (ORR) here has been named after Siddaramaiah and he himself had inaugurated the Circle along with other development programmes in Chamundeshwari Constituency during his previous stint as the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly.

The University of Mysore Housing Cooperative Society Ltd., had developed thousands of sites in various dimensions and had allotted the sites to majority of the Varsity employees. A circle named after Siddaramaiah with the Clock Tower, was inaugurated on Apr. 8, 2022 by Siddaramaiah himself in the same locality.

The plaque installed in the tower gives details about the dignitaries who had attended the inauguration ceremony — Chamundeshwari MLA G.T. Devegowda, then Varuna MLA Dr. Yathindra Siddaramaiah, Chairman of Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) H.V. Rajeev, Chairman, Karnataka State Cooperative Apex Bank Ltd., G.D. Harish Gowda (now Hunsur MLA), President of University of Mysore Housing Co-operative Society Ltd., Krishnamallegowda and Vice-President K.T. Manu.

Over the years, it has emerged as one of the prestigious layouts, for having located within the ORR, falling under the jurisdiction of MUDA.

The contention is over the recent developments revolving around the plans to rename KRS Road as ‘Siddaramaiah Arogya Marga’ and the statement of Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) Commissioner Ashaad-Ur-Rahman Shariff, who had said that no Roads or Circles had been named after Siddaramaiah so far in the city, as per the feedback provided by all the nine MCC Zonal Offices.

Some argue that, though University Layout is developed by a private party, the maintenance of the layout is handled by MUDA. The MUDA approved the Layout plan and released the sites subsequently. The site owners and residents of the locality have been paying property tax to MUDA every year. Once MUDA hands over the locality to MCC, the latter would be maintaining the locality. 

As is the procedure, either MUDA or MCC shall be entrusted with the maintenance of Circles, Parks, Play Grounds, Civic Amenities (CA) sites, roads and other public facilities. With the very residential layout falling under MUDA limits, definitely there should be a mention of the Circle named after Siddaramaiah in the Government record.

The argument that, this being a MUDA-approved Private Layout, and the decision to name the Circle after Siddaramaiah is also purely personal, holds no water.

MCC Commissioner clarifies

The Siddaramaiah Circle, though exists in University of Mysore layout, it is a layout developed by private parties and the decision to name the Circle after Siddaramaiah is purely theirs. Hence, there is no mention of Road, Circle or Layout named after Siddaramaiah in Government records, clarified MCC Commissioner Ashaad-Ur-Rahman Shariff.

Proposal and objection

It may be mentioned that, following a proposal by Chamaraja MLA K. Harishgowda to rename a stretch of KRS Road from Venkataramanaswamy temple in V.V. Mohalla to Hotel Royal Inn junction at Metagalli, after Siddaramaiah, Mysuru-Kodagu MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar had raised objection stating that the road was already named as Princess Road in commemoration of Princess Krishnajammanni.