CONCERNING CIVIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS MGP wants government and quasi-government bodies to adhere to the law and if persuasion does not work, it will go to the courts to enforce the law. Even here, it normally fights only test cases, cases in which a large number of citizens will be benefited and cases in which it impleads itself (at no financial cost) to give moral support to a genuine public cause. When people bring cases of encroachment, building bylaw violations, land use violations, etc. in which only a limited number of people are affected, MGP encourages the affected parties to file the cases themselves. When people (especially MGP members) file such cases with MGP’s guidance, an impression is often created that MGP itself has filed the cases, but it is the wrong impression. MGP feels that to make a real difference, a large number of individuals and organizations have to take up the fight. There are some such individuals and organizations in Mysore now, but their numbers and strength are not increasing fast enough. Without an overwhelming public pressure, even judicial victories are meaningless because the people who violate the law also disobey court orders. For example, there have been court decisions declaring that a bank has violated zonal regulations (which means that the bank building has to be demolished), staying the construction of a petrol bunk, ordering the demolition of a building in a park, etc., but in each of these cases, the court orders have been willfully disobeyed and one has to again approach the courts to enforce these orders. This is what happens when authorities are derelict in their duties and the public pressure is not strong enough. So MGP is concentrating now on explaining various aspects of law and important court decisions to the public and encouraging more and more people to make use of them to fight law violators and erring officials. It hopes that when sufficient number of people are aware of their legal rights and how to fight for them, sufficient pressure can be applied on the erring officials. The courts are now ruling that officials who misuse their powers are personally liable for damages and MGP is encouraging the public to press this issue in their fight. In MGP’s view, even when a “development” does not violate the law, it should be prudent, beneficial to the public in the long run and sustainable. It is opposed to projects in which limited natural resources such as water or limited financial resources are spent extravagantly for the benefit of a few or for general public purposes in which the benefit is not commensurate with the cost. Such projects are usually initiated by governments in secrecy with little public debate. The recent ADB project to improve the infrastructure of Mysore was one such decision. This was a clandestine affair from the beginning and for all its efforts, MGP was not able to get crucial details concerning the project. Even now we do not know what the financial implications to the citizens of Mysore are. All we know is that the
planning was terrible, the improvements in the roads is minimal, the footpaths of the city have been all but destroyed, the improvement in the water supply does not match what was promised (while the project was supposed to solve Mysore’s water problems for the next twenty years, we are talking of bringing Kapini water to Mysore before even beginning to pay back the loan!), the hundreds of garbage bins constructed all over the city are totally nonfunctional, the storm water drains are inadequate as exemplified by the massive flooding near Ballal Circle every time it rains and a significant portion of the sewage still runs through the storm water drains. The Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor was another example. The cloak of secrecy that hung over this project was even thicker. When bits and pieces of the project became public knowledge, it was obvious that the highway was just a red herring, the real issue was the obscene profits to be made in selling real estate in the proposed townships. MGP also believes that projects that destroy the ambience of the city is not beneficial to the public in the long run. So it is opposed to construction of commercial complexes, hospitals, petrol bunks etc. in residential areas and to the gaudy advertisements which have been permitted on two major roads in Mysore. The income from these ventures is not quite commensurate with the damage to the ambience of the roads. Once the ambience is destroyed, it can not be brought back, it is lost for ever. IS MGP MERELY OBSTRUCTIONIST? MGP believes that the charges of obstructionism are not well-founded. For example, even while it was vehemently protesting the non-transparent way in which the ADB project was carried out, it still fully cooperated with the authorities, conducted seminars on the subject to educate both the public and the city corporators on various aspects of the project, actively worked to obtain citizens’ cooperation and feedback in various localities, monitored the works in various areas and submitted reports on them to the concerned authorities. If MGP were merely obstructionist, it would not done any of these things. But whenever it encounters foolish and impractical proposals from the government, MGP feels it is its bounden duty to raise objections, especially if the proposal involves the expenditure of a significant amount of public money. The quality of governance at all levels is sinking to very low levels and the vast majority of laws, regulations, programmes and projects proposed and enacted by the government are done without a detailed study, without cost/benefit analysis, without considering the pros and cons and without a debate in which inputs from experts can be obtained. The unending saga of SAS property tax amendments is an example of the amateurishness of the government in law enactment. When it
comes to projects, people want to build toll highways, subways, ropeways and flyovers without identifying the real problem and without giving much thought to whether these are the best solutions to the real problem. As a result, when the projects are undertaken and finished, the actual returns are nothing compared to the promises. The 133 crore ADB project, which promised world class infrastructure, solution of water problems for the next twenty years, etc. is a case in point. WHY DOES MGP NOT MAKE CONSTRUCTIVE SUGGESTIONS? MGP has made hundreds of constructive suggestions to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the administration. We just give five random samples: * Coupon system for the sale of kerosene The suggestion which was implemented on a trial basis in three areas in Karnataka proved a tremendous success in stopping blackmarketing of kerosene sold under the public distribution system. It was probably too successful for its own good because pressure from vested groups forced the government to withdraw it. * Objective self-assessment for property tax The system was introduced many years after it was suggested by MGP, but the system that was introduced left out important features that made it simple and transparent. With each amendment, the SAS system has become more and more complicated. MGP had also argued that tax based on the property value is intrinsically unfair in that there is no one-to-one relation between the tax paid and the services received and so a head tax is probably a more equitable option. But this suggestion has not been considered at all. * Computerization of property tax records MGP made the suggestion that the property and water tax records of all citizens must be computerized and made available to the public. This would put an end to all shenanigans in the assessment and collection of taxes by the city corporation. Mr. P. Bore Gowda, the former Commissioner of MCC had appreciated the merit in the argument and ordered accordingly. But the Commissioners since him have not shown any interest in the matter. * Commercial parking Almost none of the commercial buildings provide the parking space that they are mandated by law to provide. So MGP has suggested that this law should be scrapped and instead MCC or MUDA should provide the parking for all the vehicles coming to the commercial area and the cost of the land for parking passed on to the owners of the commercial properties. Again, this idea has not had any takers yet. * Replacing the motors used in Water Supply with energy-efficient motors One can replace each motor in the present water supply system with two
energy-efficient motors with a onetime expenditure of about Rs. 1.2 crores. This will save the Corporation Rs. 3-4 crores every year in the power bill. Unfortunately, the corporators, the officials, and even the media have ignored this suggestion. All the above seem like foolproof ideas which are bound to work. But unfortunately none of them have been accepted by the powers that be. THE FUTURE MGP believes that once people start exercising their civic rights in earnest and start fighting for them, organization such as MGP will vanish away. After all, we are here to empower the people and if people are empowered, where is the need for the empowerer? So if we succeed in achieving our objectives, we will be sounding our own death knell. We are looking forward to that day. Master Plan for Mysore: Role of a citizen? (Apr 30, 2005) Dr. Bhamy V. Shenoy In early 50s, Mysore was well known as a cultural, academic and heritage city with pleasing lakes, smooth moving traffic, efficient water supply, good power supply with few black outs, well maintained parks etc. Over the next 40 years, why has there been a steady decline all around and even a collapse in the case of many services? What is the use of boasting that Mysore was the first city in India to have a City Improvement Trust Board in 1903? Thanks to the vision of Visweswarayya and Mirza Ismail supported by rulers like Krishnarajendra and Jayachamarajendra Wodeyars Mysoreans were able to enjoy the fruits of a superbly planned city till early 50s. Later the so called plans like ODP in 1972, CDP in 1981, and RCDP in 1997 have been a total disaster. The result has been the all round decline in Mysore. In addition to poor planning, poor enforcement of laws and building codes gave political leaders and people with connection to grab prime land reserved for civic amenities. They converted parks into commercial and residential properties. Lakes have been drained. Public land has been encroached all over the city. MGP has tried to influence the preparation of RCDP through active involvement in the past. But our corrupt political system has been successful in converting the planning process into just a mechanical process to get legal rights to change the land use. They have just one single objective of grabbing the land at any cost. All the important aspects planning have been totally neglected. However this time during the process of preparing Master Plan which should be ready during 2006, Mysoreans have an opportunity to play a greater role. This is mostly thanks to the initiative of MUDA Commissioner Pankaj Panday provided he is not transferred before he completes three years of his minimum stay here. In this article I am indicating some of the key areas where citizens with expertise, concern and interest can contribute to improve the planning process.
Population For an exercise like a Mater Plan for a city, minimum planning horizon should be at least 20 to 50 years. One of the most important assumptions which will influence the entire planning process is population estimate. This may sound like a simple process. But it requires a deep insight into many factors. We should have fairly good idea regarding the present resident and floating population. If initial data itself is faulty, final number will also be wrong. Current resident population of city is estimated between 8 to 10 lakhs. Can we get a better estimate? Do we have a credible idea regarding floating population? Just to give an idea of potential error, depending upon what we estimate as current population and possible growth in Mysore’s future population, it can be as low as 12 lakhs and as high as 32 lakhs in 2025. In earlier RCDP, there was very little attention paid to this important parameter. What kind of a city do we want? Mysoreans should seriously debate about what kind of city we want to promote. If we want to promote Mysore as a heritage city and be a tourist paradise, then it does not make sense to have heavy industries like chemical, steel, and power located in Mysore. Since Nanjangud is a part of Mysore’s master plan, we can reserve such industries to Nanjangud, and allow light industries such as software, garment, electronics, health etc to be located here. Besides regulating the kind of industries to be built in Mysore, we need to plan to accommodate the needs of tourists in terms of having enough hotel rooms, restaurants, transportation etc. Also we need to preserve the old charm of Mysore by properly maintaining the heritage sites, adapting building bye laws to insist for the original façade when old buildings are replaced by new buildings, color combination etc. Water How are we going to meet the future water requirement for our city? Needless to state the obvious that our current water supply system has totally collapsed. But for few selected locations no one is getting uninterrupted water supply which is considered as a luxury. Unfortunately our elected representatives think that there is no water crisis. We should try to estimate first the amount of water that will be required in 2025. For this we need to know the population, industrial growth, type of industry, commercial establishment etc. At present we apply a simple yardstick of the need to supply 135 liters per day per person. On this simple basis itself we need 260 million liters per day (mld) in 2025 if the population grows to14.5 and 576 mld if population grows to 32 million. The current supply capacity is just 215 mld at best. During summer months it can be considerably less. Will KRS be able to provide this huge quantity? What needs to be done to augment our water requirement? Again if we carefully consider water requirement for industry and commercial purpose, the amount of water required will be much more. Earlier plans have given scant attention to this strategic factor despite knowing the importance of water supply for the growth of any city. Power
Of equal importance is power needs. It is true that CESCOM is expected to be concerned with this. Since we know very well the limitations of CESCOM in terms of its finances, MUDA has the responsibility of coming up with the plans to supply uninterrupted power. Thanks to recent changes in Electricity Regulatory Act, there is far more flexibility in meeting power requirement and we need not depend upon an inefficient bureaucracy like CESCOM. We need to think of an out of the box type of solution. Why cannot CII be involved to convince a group of industrialists to invest in a modern power plant to meet the power requirement of Mysore and also to manage Mysore’s distribution system? Already most industrialists are investing in their own generators. This is most inefficient. It has become a fad to talk in terms of esoteric renewables to meet our future power requirement without worrying about the basic problem of meeting the current power need. We should be abreast of the development in this area. But at the same time we need to be pragmatic to realize their limitation. Handling of solid waste and sewage. Currently, less than 50% of the solid waste generated is being handled by the corporation though the waste treatment plant can handle a bigger load. There is bound to be a large increase in solid waste generated in future years. Factors causing this are the potential explosion in population growth, and greater generation of per capita solid waste because of rising standard of living. MUDA should also be planning at least with respect to new developments, the optimum way of segregating and collecting the solid waste. The brick walled collectors installed using ADB loan has proven to be useless and also health hazard. Some have already disappeared. Concrete bins are no different. Uncontrolled plastic menace is going to reach a crisis stage soon. There are some NGO activists who have done good work in demonstrating the hazards of not handling solid waste properly. But it does not imply that they are experts in this area. MUDA may have to identify genuine experts to solve the inevitable future crisis to handle enormous amount of solid waste. In the case of sewage at least the problem is less complex technically. What is needed is a political will to solve the problem and allocating resources to handle increasing amount of sewage. It is unfortunate that even in newly built sub divisions, storm water drains are used to get rid of sewage. On a war footing MUDA and MCC should work together to clear the storm water drainage system. It is also necessary to plan for the construction of new sewage purifier systems depending upon the growth of the population. Traffic and transport Some ad hoc attempts have been made by different authorities to study the city’s traffic system. But none has contributed to improve the traffic flow in the city. This is also another complex subject requiring expertise. We need an integrated study based on raw statistics of current traffic survey and likely development in the future. The latter is a function of population growth, public versus private transportation, per capita income growth, industrial and commercial growth etc. Experts should be able to develop a computer simulation model to study the impact of various factors and come up with an optimum solution. The ring road construction is an ample demonstration of the futility of spending tax payer’s money when the half baked project is implemented for political expediency.
At present it may not be economically feasible to have a metro system for Mysore. Still it is a good idea to have a feasibility study done so that while developing new sub divisions, provision can be made in case of a future metro. Connectivity In any country facing energy crisis, the government would have tried to maximize the use of railway system to reduce the consumption of petrol for several reasons. By having the double railway track between Mysore and Bangalore, not only we can reduce the time required to travel, but also contribute to environmental protection, energy security, reduced accidents etc. With Bangalore airport being close to Mysore and time to travel between reduced because of double tracking it may be difficult to justify a large airport in Mysore. Still it may be a good idea to allocate enough land in case of a need to have a larger airport in the future. Education Educational institutions have sprung up all over Mysore not based on any study to meet the local need, but where land or building was available. Many of them do not have adequate playgrounds. If they are government schools, many of them do not have toilets, water supply and proper kitchen to prepare mid day meals. Some of the private schools are no better. Most of the schools do not meet the minimum standards set down by fire protection department. In the new developments, at least MUDA should provide enough land for educational institutions after studying the potential needs. Also they should not be bunched with other civic amenities site and given to profit making educational institutions. Many of them after constructing few class rooms have converted the rest into shopping complex. It is unfortunate that MUDA has not taken any steps to take over such lands when the owners have clearly violated the rules. Since 40 to 50 % of students attending government schools drop out before completing 7th grade, present number of high schools in Mysore has been able to meet the demand. Also in many private schools, children are packed like sardines in the class rooms. However if they were to meet the standards set by the government and education system improves to reduce the drop out rate, there is a need to build many more schools in old development. Planning should provide land for this critical need. Zoning In some areas of the city today, either because of poor planning or lack of enforcement of zoning regulations, shops and manufacturing activities are allowed in areas meant for residential neighborhood. Not only this is creating untold problems to residents, but also has resulted in health problems and traffic accidents. Gasoline stations are allowed to be constructed on residential plots. High rise apartments are constructed on plots given for single family dwellings. At least in new developments, and if possible in old areas, land should be reserved for construction of health facilities like large hospitals, and small primary health clinics. Where high rise buildings are allowed, adequate amount of parking, water supply, sewage handling capacity etc should be provided for in the beginning and not as an after thought.
Since the law requires that certain percentage of land should be reserved for green belt, for parks, civic amenities, etc, an attempt is made to comply with the law while preparing plans. However this is the fertile ground where land grabbers, corrupt politicians and greedy bureaucrats change the land use to earn crores. A good example is Nehru Loka. In recent years, there has been some effort on the part of few concerned citizens and NGOs to agitate against such blatant violations of laws. But we need much more if we want to bring back the old charm of Mysore. Laws, rules and regulations are just nothing but powerful weapons in the hands of bureaucracy and politicians in power to plunder the society and not to protect it today. Finance Any amount of planning is not fruitful if it is not backed up by proper finance. It is here, we have failed miserably again because of corruption, poor leadership and indifference on the part of citizens. What do we have to show for recent ADB loan that Mysoreans have to pay back now? When we decided to take the loan, we must have thought of a plan to pay it. It is obvious that we made a grave miscalculation. We should avoid the obvious pitfalls of underestimating the costs, overestimating the revenues and showering subsidies on the rich and powerful in the name of helping the poor. Though the law stipulates that land in a new sub division can be allocated only after installing all the infrastructure, there is not a single instance where it has been done. This is because of poor financial planning. MUDA always runs of short funds. When it hands over the unfinished areas to the corporation, it is also not in a position to spend money to complete all the tasks. Roads would not have been properly paved. Park would not have been ready. Street lightings would not have been provided. Storm water drain and sewage lines would not have been properly laid. Proper cost accounting should be done to collect the right amount from property buyers and not an amount based on political expediency. Instead but for corner sites when sold on well publicized auction, most of the property is sold below not just the market value but even cost incurred by MUDA resulting in perennial deficit. Conclusion The preceding discussion would have convinced even a casual reader the complexity of town planning, the invisible role played by corrupt leaders to grab land with the help of bureaucracy, how poor enforcement of laws has spoiled the old charm of Mysore, and the importance of citizens being ever vigilant. We in Mysore are fortunate that we have a wealth of talents to contribute to develop a first rate Master Plan. We are also lucky this time that we have a dynamic commissioner like Pankaj Panday who wants to involve the public. We need to get over our usual cynicism what one citizen however good he may be can do since politicians will finally have their way. Let us be optimistic and come forward to work with Pankaj Panday to reverse the decline of Mysore and bring back the old glory of our city. Protest against Ropeway ASSOCIATION OF CONCERNED & INFORMED CITIZENS OF MYSORE C/o Major General S.G.Vombatkere, VSM (Retd) 475, 7th Main Road // Vijayanagar 1st Stage // MYSORE – 570 017