[ಕನ್ನಡ ಅನುವಾದ ಶೀಘ್ರದಲ್ಲೇ ಬರಲಿದೆ — Kannada translation coming soon]
26-3-03 To The Chief Minister, Government of Karnataka, Vidhana Soudha, Bangalore 560 001 Sir, Sub: Dereliction of Duty by Officers of Mysore City Corporation We are a voluntary organization working to solve consumer, civic and environmental problems of Mysore. We have more than 650 members. We receive a large number of complaints from the citizens of Mysore and we try to help by directing them to the proper authorities and interceding on their behalf if nothing else works. Of late, problems concerning Mysore City Corporation have become extremely difficult to alleviate, remedy, or cure because the officers of MCC are either unwilling or incapable of handling them. As a consequence, the number of problems facing the city are spiralling out of control, laws and court orders are flouted flagrantly and one has grave doubts if the city has an administration or not. Based on the complaints we have received from the citizens of Mysore, we are submitting below, for your kind perusal, some civic problems which have remained unsolved even after repeated appeals to MCC. They have been categorized department-wise to demonstrate that incompetence is not limited to one or two departments of MCC, but is across the board. The cases listed are but a tiny sample of the problems faced by the city, but we are sure that they are enough to impress upon you the gravity of the situation. Kindly take some stern action before it is too late. Please remove immediately the officers of MCC who can not solve the city’s problems and give us persons who can. 1. Engineering and Planning Departments a. Illegal change of land use: According to Sec. 39 of the Karnataka Urban Development Authorities Act, 1987, areas reserved for parks, playgrounds and civic amenities can not be used for other purposes. But there are innumerable examples in which the law is being violated. Some of the examples brought to us (and the Corporation authorities) by the public are Brahmakumaris building in Yadavagiri, Nilgiri’s Supermarket on Hunsur Road, extension of B.M. Hospital in Jayalakshmipuram, temple in the park behind Gujarati Samaja in Yadavagiri, temple in the park in Brindavan extension, Mysore City Corporation building in Cheluvamba park, HOPCOMS shop in the park in Kuvempunagar and Mysore Medical College Platinum Jubilee building in J.K. Grounds. All these buildings seem to have come up on land reserved for parks and playgrounds in the Comprehensive Development Plan for Mysore. In addition, Ball-wall park in V.V. Puram, which is designated a park area in the CDP has been demolished to make way for a traffic intersection. Whatever be the merits of this conversion, it clearly violates Sec. 39 of the KUDA Act. Again, the annexe built by MCC behind its office also
violates zoning laws as has been pointed out by MATF itself. The site is a CA site and the annexe has what seems like several shops. The law is clear that CA sites can not be used for commercial purposes. Similarly, major portions of numerous CA sites given to educational institutions and trusts have been converted to shops (i.e., commercial use) or let out to exhibitions to earn money for the respective institutions. This is clearly against the law. There is a clear High Court order that CITB sites allotted for the construction of a residential house can not be used to construct other types of buildings. Even though this order has been brought to the attention of MCC authorities, the Planning department continues to allow apartment buildings, hospitals, restaurants and commercial buildings to be built on such sites. As a result, residential areas have now become indiscriminately dotted with such nonresidential buildings, destroying the very nature of those areas and making a mockery of the concept of orderly development. Many cellular phone towers have been recently erected on residential properties. This again is illegal since phone towers are commercial buildings and can not be erected on residential properties. MCC building bylaws give the Commissioner the discretion to allow other types of buildings in any land use zone. Instead of using this discretionary power only in rare cases, the MCC is using it routinely, thus playing havoc with planned growth. The power to regularize buildings is also being used very loosely, to the detriment of the public good. b. Setback violations: They are so common that buildings which obey the setback rules are the exception. But MCC engineers who are supposed to prevent setback violations rarely do so even when the public complain to them. Emboldened by the dereliction of duty by the MCC engineers, many property owners are not only blatantly violating setback rules, but also encroaching on Corporation land. For example, we have received complaints that conservancy lanes have been encroached by Rudrappa Hospital in Yadavagiri, SBM building and the three-storey apartment building behind it in Yadavagiri, Green Leaf Restaurant in V.V. Puram, etc. We have forwarded complaints that several houses in Yadavagiri, V.V. Puram, Jayalakshmipuram, Vidyaranayapuram, Siddhartha Layout and Agrahara have encroached conservancy lanes, but no action has been taken. When one Krishnappa of Kuvempunagar complained about the encroachment of Corporation land by his neighbour, Malleshayya, MCC authorities did absolutely nothing. When Krishnappa spent his own money and went to court to prevent the looting of MCC property, MCC engineers, instead of supporting Krishnappa, testified for the encroacher! c. Heritage zoning violations: As pointed out by MATF itself, MCC is allowing numerous tall buildings to come up near heritage buildings such as Jaganmohan Palace. This is in clear violation of the zoning laws controlling development near declared monuments. d. Compound height violations:
Even though MCC bylaws limit compound heights to less than 1.5 m, very few people obey the law. In spite of several reminders, MCC has taken no action. Tall compounds around corner sites are posing serious danger to traffic. e. Encroachment of footpaths for commercial parking: Though provision of adequate parking is a must in building bylaws, most commercial buildings which are coming up provide little or no parking spaces. As a result, public footpaths have been grabbed for parking of vehicles. Some examples about which we have received complaints and forwarded to MCC are Shivananda Super Market, Loyal World, Greenleaf Restaurant, ICICI building, Nalpak Restaurant all in V.V. Puram, Nagitha Complex in Saraswatipuram, Nilgiri’s Supermarket and B.M. Hospital on Hunsur Road, TVS showroom in Chamarajapuram, Advaith Hyundai showroom in Lakshmipuram and Vikram Hospital and SBI (SSI branch) in Yadavagiri. Numerous choultries are encroaching footpaths for parking. f. Killing of roadside trees from paving of footpaths: Under the ADB loan, several footpaths in the city have been paved. Unfortunately, the paving is done all the way to the trunks of roadside trees leaving no room for rain water to percolate down to the roots of the trees. This has killed several trees including a couple right in front of MCC. Public Cause, an NGO, has pursued this issue with MCC, but with no success. 2. Health Department a. Stray Animals: Pigs, dogs, cattle and horses roam the streets of the city without let or hindrance. Every now and then there is a scare of rabies or encephalitis and the MCC authorities put up a show of catching some dogs or pigs. The number of stray dogs and pigs is increasing day by day and it is indeed providence that there is no serious outbreak of rabies (spread by dogs) or Japanese encephalitis (spread by pigs). Cattle also pose a traffic hazard on all the streets of Mysore. Many two-wheeler drivers have been hurt and some killed when stray animals have wandered into their path. b. Roadside eateries and footpath encroachment: Roadside eateries and food vendors have mushroomed over the last few years and have become public health hazards. Washing of vessels in the open leaves puddles of water which breed mosquitoes. The leftovers which are dumped on the roadside itself breed pigs, dogs and flies. Once a year, MCC issues the standard notice prohibiting sale of cut fruits, etc. but the ban is not enforced. Food-carts also block pedestrian movement and pose a hazard to traffic. Even eateries which operate out of shop-fronts are appropriating nearby footpaths and setting up chairs and tables on public property. Phone booths are also encroaching footpaths. Several citizens have complained to MCC about all these encroachments, but to no avail. Even regular shops are encroaching footpaths and hence pedestrians are left with only roads to walk on. A walk on any
road in the centre of the city will prove that there is almost no shop which does not encroach public land in any way. Five months ago, we forwarded to MCC a complaint from residents of Shivarampet that all shop owners on 1st Cross South have extended their shops 3 feet into the road. MCC is yet to take action. c. Trade licence violations: It is possible that hundreds of businesses in the city are operating without a trade licence. Recently, when the MCC Commissioner was trying to cancel the trade licence of Shivananda Super Market since it’s building did not have a CR, it was found that the store does not have a trade licence either! If trade licences are made truly compulsory under threat of closure, the resultant licence fees will greatly augment the revenues of MCC. d. Lack of garbage clearance: Garbage clearance is sporadic at best and as a result garbage bins have become breeding grounds for pigs, dogs, flies and mosquitoes. Obviously the privatization scheme for garbage clearance is not working because garbage is not being cleared. It is either left to the mercy of pigs and dogs or set on fire releasing noxious fumes. In many places, where there are no garbage bins, refuse is piled up at the nearest tree and set on fire. This has resulted in the death of several trees. Public Cause, an NGO which has taken up this issue, reports that it has found no response from MCC despite several reminders. e. Violation of the solid waste laws: Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules of 2000 lays down strict procedures to handle garbage and sets deadlines. Almost every one of these procedures and deadlines have been violated. f. Is incumbent Health Officer legally qualified?: According to Karnataka Municipal Corporations Rules, only a person deputed from the Directorate of Health and Family Welfare Services of the status of an Assistant Director can be the Health Officer in MCC. The incumbent has been promoted from within the department and hence may not be legally qualified for the post. 3. Revenue Department a. Loss of revenue from buildings without CR: Several buildings, many of them deviating from sanctioned plans, have not been issued Completion Reports by MCC. But that has not prevented the owners from occupying or letting out the buildings on rent. Since the buildings do not have CRs, they have not been assessed for property tax and MCC is being cheated out of lakhs and possibly crores of rupees in property tax.
Occupying or letting out buildings without CR is prohibited by KMC Act, but MCC is not enforcing the law in spite of several reminders. We have received complaints that Dr. Rudrappa’s hospital and SBI (SSI branch) in Yadavagiri and Shivananda Super Market in V.V. Puram, among other buildings, do not have CR. SBI occupied the building in 1998 at a monthly rent of nearly Rs. 40,000 or nearly Rs. 5 lakhs per year. So the ratable value of the building is Rs. 4 lakhs and at the old rates, the annual property tax would be between Rs. 80,000 and Rs. 1 lakh. So MCC has lost nearly Rs. 5 lakhs in property tax on this building alone, in the last 5 years. Let alone collect these dues, MCC is not even issuing notice to the bank to vacate the building under Sec. 310 of the KMC Act. So MCC will continue losing revenue. 4. Legal Department a. Violations of court orders (Contempt of court): MCC has been violating numerous court orders and are liable for contempt of court. We give here just three examples about which we have received complaints. i. Karnataka High Court ordered in 1997 that fish-selling booths at Cheluvamba park and Ramaswamy circle be removed. But MCC has not yet implemented these orders. A complaint has been filed before the Lokayukta for noncompliance of court orders. ii. The High Court ordered in 2000 that encroachments of public lands behind CFTRI be removed. MCC is yet to act on the order. iii. In case of SBI building on Vivekananda Road, the High Court, in its order of 26-3-97 quashed the government notification which authorized the change of land use of the building site from residential to commercial and ordered MCC to take steps to make sure that the building complied with zonal regulations. Even though six years have elapsed since the court order, MCC has done nothing despite repeated reminders. Another complaint has been filed before the Lokayukta against MCC for dereliction of duty. b. Lack of zealous legal action: Tenants of MCC properties all over the city are paying a pittance in rent. But MCC is unable to evict them because they have obtained stay orders. Even though crores of rupees are at stake, MCC is showing no enthusiasm to get the stay orders vacated. c. Lack of action in case of clear violation: MCC Itself says that Shivananda Super Market in V.V. Puram has been built with zero setbacks and 350% violation of building bylaws. MCC had issued a CO for its demolition, but the store filed an appeal before MCC Standing Committee on Works. The file has been pending before the committee without disposal for the last nine months. The store has been functioning without CR and trade licence for more than a year.
d. Routine appeals in unwinnable case: In many cases, MCC is so obviously in the wrong that they would be better settled out of court. But MCC fights them and wastes public money. When the case is lost, an appeal is automatically filed even though there are no strong grounds and more money is wasted. 5. Food Analyst MCC had no food analyst for 16 years. After hectic efforts from several consumer organizations, a food analyst was named in 1996. But as far as we know, she has not initiated a single prosecution till now. The reason given is that according to Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, only an officer deputed from the Directorate of Health and Family Welfare Services is eligible to be named the food analyst and the incumbent, though well-qualified in every other way, is a promotee from within the Corporation and so is not legally qualified to be a food analyst. If this is true, then she must be immediately replaced by a fully qualified person. Since there has been no prosecution for food adulteration in Mysore for nearly a quarter of a century, there is no fear of the law and food adulteration is rampant, putting the lives of people in danger. Another consequence of the inability of the food analyst to prosecute is that several food inspectors employed by MCC and who have received specialized training to collect food samples to be analyzed are now being employed as sanitary inspectors. What a waste of training! 6. Water Supply a. Summer shortage: Every one knows that come summer, there will be a water supply problem. But instead of preparing in advance, action is delayed till the crisis is upon us and emergency measures are taken. The same drama is repeated year after year. b. Borewell water unfit for drinking: When Mr. Bore Gowda was the Commissioner, he initiated a programme to test the potability of borewell water in Mysore. Of the 91 borewells tested, water from nearly half of them was found not fit for drinking. The programme was discontinued. In the ensuing years, it is certain that more borewells have been contaminated, but borewell water is being supplied without treatment. Several borewells which had been closed because the water quality was not satisfactory have now been reopened because of water scarcity. c. No control over sinking borewells: According to Secs. 300 and 312 of the KMC Act, MCC permission is needed to sink a borewell. Even though the past Commissioner, Mr. N. Jayaram had issued a press statement prohibiting borewells without MCC sanction, MCC has not initiated any action to stop drilling of illegal borewells. Every year, hundreds of borewells are being drilled with no control whatsoever. As a result of indiscriminate use of borewell water, the water table is going down rapidly and contamination of the water table is increasing to dangerous levels. 7. Public Relations
The response of MCC to public grievances is getting tardier by the day. Complaints given can not be traced and fresh complaints have to be filed. When the public write letters to newspapers describing their problems, no one from MCC responds. In contrast, the PROs of BMP. KSRTC, BDA all respond promptly to letters to the editor. CONCLUSION It is evident that the present officers of MCC are either unwilling or incapable of addressing the problems faced by the citizens of Mysore. The citizens of Mysore are already upset at the decision to increase property tax steeply to pay back the ADB loan. The least they expect in return is a much improved city administration. But Mysore City seems to lack even a basic minimum level of administration. After paying a hefty property tax, if the citizens continue getting such inefficient and apathetic service from the Corporation, if the problems facing the city keep on mounting, if the living conditions keep on worsening, the people are bound to revolt. Therefore, we urge you to order an urgent review of the MCC administration and immediately replace the inefficient and incompetent officers with persons who are capable of handling and solving the problems facing the city. For the Executive Committee of Mysore Grahakara Parishat, B.V. Shenoy, President