A few MDA employees and touts seen inside MDA office at 11.30 pm yesterday.
Night activity of Mysuru Development Authority (MDA) officials in their sections raises questions
Picture shows some of them fleeing from the office upon seeing SOM photographer clicking their photos.
Mysuru, June 5 – Lingering questions over the functioning of the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), now renamed the Mysuru Development Authority (MDA), continue to raise concern among citizens.
The concerns stem from what appears to be an unusual work pattern within the Authority.
While most Government offices function between 10 am and 5.30 pm, reports from public circles indicate that MDA officials and staff have been working late into the night, in some instances past midnight. Sources allege that ‘middlemen’ are also active within the premises and corridors, facilitating official processes. Acting on the information provided by the public, a reporter and photographer from Star of Mysore visited the MDA office around 11.30 pm yesterday.
Upon seeing SOM reporter and photographer, some staff members and middlemen, left the premises in a hurry while others, who were standing with open files and making notes on them, immediately moved out of sight.
Several official vehicles belonging to senior officers were seen parked outside the office. Interestingly, the designation nameplates had been removed from the front portion of the vehicles and kept inside the vehicles, adding to the intrigue.
Late-night operation
At the time of the visit, all sections of the MDA’s main office were operational, with lights on across departments.
Officials and staff were seen preparing documents, moving between sections for approvals and signatures and updating records on computers. Middlemen were also present, closely following proceedings, while files were being sorted, stamped and processed late into the night.
The timing has drawn attention. Just hours earlier, Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar had taken oath and by midnight, portfolios were allocated among Cabinet Ministers.
The Urban Development portfolio, which oversees the MDA, was assigned to Dr. Yathindra Siddaramaiah, son of former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Fuelling speculation
The coincidence has fuelled speculation in some quarters. During the earlier MUDA 50:50 site-allotment scam, Siddaramaiah’s close aide Byrathi Suresh was the Urban Development Minister. Now, with a new Cabinet in place and the portfolio going to Dr. Yathindra Siddaramaiah, the sight of officials working overnight to process and scrutinise files has prompted fresh questions.
MDA Commissioner K.R. Rakshith’s office and the Town Planning Officer’s chambers were open, but neither of them was present.
The MDA Secretary was also not seen. A staff member, speaking on condition of anonymity, suggested they might be at the Commissioner’s residence but did not clarify the reason for the late-night activity.
Credibility in question
Public confidence in the Authority has already been eroded. The earlier MUDA site scam exposed large-scale allotment of sites under the ‘alternative allotment’ categories under the 50:50 scheme, allegedly benefiting insiders and intermediaries.
Investigations by the CID, Lokayukta and the Justice Desai Commission found that officials, staff and middlemen had profited significantly. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) also seized properties worth hundreds of crores of rupees.
However, the status of those seized assets remains unclear.
Even after the Siddaramaiah Government dissolved MUDA and reconstituted it as MDA to distance the institution from past allegations, concerns over irregularities persist.
Krishnaraja MLA T.S. Srivatsa has repeatedly argued that the change in name has done little to address deeper issues of corruption within the Authority.
This post was published on June 5, 2026 7:00 pm