Lots of money spent, but the purpose forgotten

B.Vaikunth Shenoy, Member, Mysore Grahakara Parishat writes

The storm water drains of Yadavagiri were repaired recently at enormous expense. Granite slabs were laid across the drains and grouted. There is no doubt it looks very nice.

But now the rain that falls on the road has no way of getting into the storm water drain. So it has to flow on the road itself. Also the level of the slabs covering the drain is higher than the road and so even the rain that falls on the slabs comes back on to the road. With so much water flowing on steep road, the road has been eroded badly and several potholes have formed. With the potholes and the gravel loosened by the flowing water, the road is quite dangerous to drive on. Heaven have mercy on the two-wheeler drivers negotiating this road.

To make the drains look nice, Mysore City Corporation has sacrificed the road. Bravo!

Irregularities in Booth-Level Committees

G.L. Nagaraj Urs, Member, Mysore Grahakara Parishat writes

Booth-level Citizen Committees were established in Mysore some time ago to fulfill the requirements of JNNURM grants. The intention of these committees is to decentralize power and allow citizens of a particular local area to participate in the planning for that area, in accordance with the 74th Amendment to the Constitution. In the beginning, it was thought that this was the sole purpose of these committees and so only citizens genuinely interested in serving their communities applied for membership. Applicants with the best qualifications were supposed to be appointed, but this has not happened. With increasing awareness that the committees also wield significant financial power with each committee getting Rs. 10 lakhs, vested interests have stepped into the picture and appointments to these committees have become irregular, with rules, regulations and fair play thrown to the winds. I give here one example of booth No. 122 for which I obtained information from the Assistant Commissioner of Mysore City Corporation zonal office in Krishnamurthypuram. There were only three lady applicants for the booth-level committee, but two were rejected leaving only one. But two ladies have been appointed to the committee. How was the second appointment made when she had not even applied? On what grounds were two applications rejected? Of the seven appointees to the committee, only four names appear in the voters list of booth no. 122. The other three are from booth nos. 117, 140 and 148. Why were these outsiders appointed to the committee of booth no. 122?

There is no end to such puzzling questions. Similar grave irregularities must be occurring in other booth-level committees also. Unless these appointments are made totally transparent so that only concerned and competent citizens are appointed, the committees will only squander their budget with no benefit to the general public The very purpose of the 74th Amendment will be then defeated

Misleading information regarding JNNURM in the article on Star Of Mysore

Star of Mysore, in an article titled "Centre Says 'No' To Outer Ring Road Under JNNURM" reports that the project was planned to be taken up under JNNURM at a cost of Rs. 90.70 crores and a proposal to this effect was sent to the Centre for approval. The Centre has written a letter to resubmit the proposal with clarifications on some technical points and with regard to acquisition of land.

Syed Tanveeruddin, member, Mysore Grahakara Parishat writes,

Many of the statements in the article run contary to the statements of the Government. In response to my aaplication under Right to Information Act, Mr. Rajesh Jaiswal, Under Secretary (NURM-II) of the Ministry of Urban Development of the Government of India replied on 18-11-08 on the status of the JNNURM projects in Mysore. A scanned image of his letter is enclosed as five Attachments.

According to the letter of the Under Secretary, the estimated cost of the Outer Ring Road Project as submitted originally was Rs. 90.70 crores. But the cost approved by the Ministry of Urban Development was Rs. 219.02 Crores, i.e., more than double the original proposal. The letter also says that Rs. 43.80 Crores HAVE BEEN ALREADY RELEASED.

Since Rs. 43.80 Crores have been already released for the project by 18-11-08 (the date of the MoUD letter), the statement that the Centre has said no to the project can not be correct.

The article in SOM states "The Centre in its letter dated Sept. 29 has informed that it is not possible to place the proposal before the CSMC as it is not of prominence under the National Urban Transport." This can not be true since according to the letter of MoUD, not only has the project been approved, more money than asked for has been approved and 25% of the approved money has already been released.

The article in SOM also states that KUIDFC has written a letter on 22-11-08 to the Centre and the DC has written on 10-12-08 to reconsider the proposal. This is strange since the money has already been released.

Garbage on Hunsur Road

The roadside of Hunsur Road at Hootagalli Industrial Estate is littered with tons of garbage .This is not only unsightly, but the terrible stench makes passing this stretch of the road an ordeal to motorists (and more so to pedestrians). Visitors to Mysore from Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada and Kerala thus get a nasty introduction to Mysore. Will the authorities take steps to clean up this mess?

Rampant Violations of Packaged Commodity Rules

G.L.Nagaraj Urs, Member, Mysore Grahakara Parishat writes

All merchandise sold in packages are governed by the the Standards of Weights and Measures(Packaged Commodities) Rules,1977. Because of liberalization policies of the government and globalization, merchandise which could not even be imagined in packages a few years ago are now being sold in packages.

As merchandise which is being sold in packages is increasing and the number of manufactureres of packaged commodities is increasing, violations of the Packaged Commodity Rules are also increasing. In the past, only small manufacturers were violating the rules, but now they are being joined by big companies also.

According to Sec. 10 of the Rules, every package must have the name and full address of the manufacturer (and the packer). Many packages sold by the smaller shops in Mysore do not carry the full address. They will just say Mysore-15 or Mysore-9. This is illegal. In the recent raids conducted by Mysore City Corporation against adulterated tea, none of the seized tea packages carried the full address and so the persons who did the adulteration could not be found.

According to the Rules, the weight, measure or number of the merchandise must also be printed on every package. There are restrictions on the weight, measure and number. For example, coffee powder sold in a package can only weigh 25g, 50g, 250g, 500g, 1kg, 2kg, 3kg,... A coffee powder packet containing 40g or 2.5kg is illegal. Similarly, a match box can only have 10, 20, 50, 60, 100, 150, 200, 250,... match sticks. A box with 55 sticks or 475 matchsticks is illegal.

This rule appears to be violated on a large scale. A coffeepowder packet manufactured by an MNC has 11.5g printed on it. A 1-rupee instant coffee packet by the same company does not show the weight anywhere. Some detergent powder packets of MNCs have 275g, 700g and 850g printed on them. All these weights are illegal.

It is easy to cheat consumers through packages which contain non-standard weights, measures or numbers. It becomes difficult for the consumers to compare prices of two different packages. Let us say that one brand is selling at 20 Rs. per 250g and another at Rs. 10 per 100g. It is then easy to figure out that the second brand costs Rs. 25 per 250g and so is more expensive than the first brand. But if the second brand sells at Rs. 6 per 75 gms, one would need a calculator to figure out if it is cheaper or not. The main purpose of using non-standard weights, measures and numbers seems to be to confuse and cheat the public.

Packaged Commodity Rules are very beneficial to the public. If they are violated (As explained above, cheating the public seems to be the main motive behind these violations), what can the consumer do? According to Sec. 39 of the Rules, selling packages which violate the Rules is also illegal. Such sellers can be fined upto Rs. 2000. The department of legal metrology (which used to be known as the department of weights and measures) has the authority to levy this fine. So if you come across such packages, complain to the department (Ph: 2363107 or 2363055). If the shop owner has to shell out a heavy fine, he will stop selling such products.

If you suffer a loss from such merchandise, you can also complainto the District Consumer Forum (Ph: 2344902) and get compensated for your loss.

The Latest Status of JNNURM Funds

Syed Tanveeruddin, member, Mysore Grahakara Parishat writes

In reply to questions put under Right to Information Act, the Ministry of Urban Development of the Central Government has given the following information on JNNURM projects for Mysore. As of November, 2008, only four projects for Mysore have been approved, remodeling of water supply network, cost Rs. 194 Cr., development of transport infrastructure, cost Rs. 85 Cr., upgrading outer ring road, cost Rs. 219 Cr. and Kabini water supply, cost Rs. 109 Cr. The total cost of these projects is Rs. 608 Cr. Of this amount, Mysore city has to provide 10% or Rs. 61 Cr., the state government will provide another 10% or Rs. 61 Cr. and the central government will provide the remaining 80%, or Rs. 486 Cr. The details are as follows:

Project Name -Central Aid- Released
(80% of cost)

1 Remodeling of Water Supply
Distribution Network(195 Cr.) -155.6 Cr. - 38.9 Cr. (i.e., 25%)

2 Development of Transport
Infrastructure facilities (85 Cr.)- 68.2 Cr. - 6.8 Cr. (i.e., 10%)

3 Upgradation of
Outer Ring Road (219 Cr.) - 175.2 Cr. - 43.8 Cr. (i.e., 25%)

4 Water Supply(109 Cr.) - 87.1 Cr. - 0.00 (i.e., 0%)

Total (608 Cr.) - 486.1 Cr. - 89.5 Cr.

The Ongoing Power Cuts

S G Vombatkere, President, Mysore Grahakara Parishat writes

The electricity consumers in the state have been subjected to highly unreliable electricity supply for the last few months. Lengthy power cuts (of up to twelve hours) have been imposed all over the state and the quality of life for the people has been severely eroded.

Such a major shortage of power is not an Act of God which is beyond the powers of human anticipation. The power supply companies (ESCOMs) must have foreseen it and if they foresaw it, they concealed it from the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission in their Tariff proposal for 2008-9. We request the Commission to take action against the ESCOMs for this fraudulent lapse.

If on the other hand, the ESCOMs did not foresee this enormous power shortage, it indicates gross incompetence and inefficiency on the part of the ESCOMs. We request the Commission to take action against the ESCOMs for this incompetence and inefficiency.

It is reported in the media that power supply companies in Maharastra have been approaching the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission for any changes in power supply such as power cuts.ÿ Necessary deliberations in KERC in this regard, including public participation, can provide remedies for the electricity crisis in Karnataka.

We believe that there are credible methods to overcome the power deficit, but it requires determined and sincere effort on the part of the ESCOMs to implement them.

In this background, we request the Commission to urgently review the power supply scenario in the state, involve the public in the deliberations, and issue necessary directives to the ESCOMs.