From unabated illegal sand lifting from river beds to Forest Right Act to protect the forest tribes, a host of problems Mysore district is facing were raised before new Deputy Commissioner P S Vastrad in Mysore today.
At a meeting to apprise the new DC over issues affecting the district, Congress leaders appealed to him to take steps to resolve them. They also pleaded for speeding up State and Central schemes, including the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Reconstruction Mission (JNNURM).
They urged him to continue the operation to clear encroachments of Government lands by demolishing illegal structures on the lines of his predecessor Harsh Gupta. On behalf of the party, City Congress President Dase Gowda handed over a memorandum listing the district’s problems to Vastrad.
Meeting convener Mysore MP A H Viswanath said several challenges were before the new DC and assured full support in tackling them. “The most important are JNNURM, Rs 100 crore Chief Minister’s fund, and housing schemes launched for the poor, weaker sections and scheduled castes and tribes,” he said requesting the DC to ensure implementation in time, without allowing for funds to lapse.
“The Rajiv Gandhi Awaaz Housing Scheme was sanctioned two years ago. But it is yet to be taken up,” the Congress MP said adding housing requirement in the district was as high as 18,000 units.
Referring to law and order situation in the district, Viswanath demanded steps to check crimes like the recent murder of two college-going boys of Hunsur.
Raising several issues, former Mayor Vasu said implementation of JNNURM had come to halt in the district and appealed to Vastrad to hold monthly review meetings with officials, elected representatives and non-officials as in the past. If it was not implemented in time, funds may lapse, he cautioned.
“Private developers have mushroomed. Layouts are formed beyond requirement all around the city. The burden of providing civic amenities has fallen on authorities like Mysore Urban Development Authority,” he said calling for measures to check this trend.
“These developers are creating artificial scarcity for houses and sites, with an eye on investors. This has deprived sites or houses for the poor,” he charged, while another former Mayor B K Prakash suggested insistence of 5 per cent of land for economically weaker sections in private layouts. Both demanded stern action against land grabbers and encroachers and cancellation of civic amenity sites lying vacant.
A suggestion to hold public contact programmes in each taluk every month to solve problems of the rural people was suggested by Association of Concerned and Informed Citizens’ of Mysore (ACICM) Convener M.Lakshman, who also stated that Rs 1,200 crore were yet to be availed under JNNURM. He also pressed for reviving the district disaster management cell.
Pointing out that he too had taken up demolition of illegal structures at Davangere on the lines of Harsh Gupta, the new DC said he would function within the ambit of law, taking co-operation of all sections in Mysore.
