MUDA's Astonishing Clarification

We read with great astonishment MUDA's "clarification" about land use conversion, especially the statement "No decisions are taken against public interest". It is our belief that the vast majority of the decisions taken by MUDA are against public interest and the law. We had specifically mentioned in our letter to the Minister of Urban Development that the Karnataka High Court has said (1988(3) KLJ 543) that the conditions and limitations imposed by the original scheme can not be changed and so land use conversions, especially, residential -> commercial, residential -> public, public/semi-public -> commercial land use changes should not be effected. MUDA is permitting such illegal conversions without any application of mind. These conversions may benefit the owners of the land, but not the general public.

Secondly, MUDA is permitting hundreds of private layouts, some as small as 1 gunta (i.e., 1000 sq. ft or 30x 30 ft.). Such mindless mushrooming of private layouts defeats the whole purpose of town planning and will make our city totally unlivable in a few years time. MUDA must surely be deluded to think that thsi flood-like conversion of tiny agricultural holdings into sites is in public interest. In the short run, it may provide some people with sites, but in the long run, such disorganized growth will choke our city to death.

MUDA's "clarification" also talks about how public notices are issued on the proposed land use changes and objections invited and how MUDA considers these objections before approving the conversion. It will be instructive to the public if MUDA can issue a press statement about how many land use changes of each kind were proposed in 2010, how many objections were received on each proposal, how many proposals were approved and how many rejected. The more than 50 objections MGP has filed against land use conversions HAVE ALL BEEN IGNORED and calling for objections may just be a farce.

B.Vaikunth Shenoy, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

MGP Writes To Union Minister To Cancel Foundation Laying Ceremony

Sushil Kumar Shinde, Union Minister for Power will be laying the foundation stone on 31-3-10 for the 4,000 MW coal-fired thermal power plant being set up by the National Thermal Power Corporation at Kudgi in Bijapur District. This is surprising because the power plant has not been accorded the necessary environmental clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. A few months ago, the foundation stone for the Gundia hydel power plant in Hassan District was laid before obtaining environmental clearance, and the MoEF raised strong objections. The same thing seems to happening again.

It is shocking that one Ministry of the Union government is blatantly flouting the rules and regulations of another Ministry. MGP has written a letter to S.K. Shinde (with a copy to Jairam Ramesh, the Union Minister for Environment and Forests) bringing the issue to his notice and asking him to cancel the stone-laying ceremony.

Maj.Gen.(Rtd.) S.G. Vombatkere, President,  Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Some Misconceptions About Mining Near Mysore

There is considerable public outcry against the proposed mining in Bolegowdana Katte near Mysore city. Most reports in the media are blaming the state government for allowing mining. The purpose of this letter is to correct some common misconceptions about this matter.

1. The state government, through a cabinet decision taken on 20-2-10, dereserved a portion of the forest near Bolegowdana Katte for mining magnesite. As far as we know, it has not given permission for mining.

2.The state government has no power to divert forest land for non-forestry use. That power vests with the Ministry of Environment and Forests of the central government.

3. The state government has no power to allow or disallow mining anywhere. The Constitution of India has specified which matters come under the purview of which government. These are contained in the Union List, the State List and the Concurrent List of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. Entry No. 54 of the Union List says "Regulation of mines and mineral development to the extent to which such regulation and development under the control of the Union is declared by Parliament by law to be expedient in the public interest." Such a law, the Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act, 1957, has been passed by the Parliament. This act leaves only minor minerals to the purview of the states and various states have formed rules to govern the mining of minor minerals only. The Karnataka Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1994 defines minor minerals to be building material including: felsite, quartzite, sandstone, marble, limestone, sand, brick and tile clay, etc., but do not include magnesite. Only the central government can permit magnesite mining .

Therefore, if Member of Parliament H.Vishwanath, who is in the forefront of the anti-mining movement, can persuade the central government (which is controlled by his own party) not to dereserve forest land for mining and not to issue mining licences, the problem will be solved. One need not worry about the state government at all. If the state government proceeds in this direction on its own, one can approach the courts and stay its actions. The high courts (e.g., AIR 1990 Kar 97) and the Supreme Court (e.g., AIR 1970 SC 1436) have time and again curbed such adventurism by state governments in the matter of mining.

C.V. Nagaraj, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

The Railway DRM Is Incorrect

Mysore City Corporation has stopped construction work by the Railways since the Railways did not obtain permission of MCC for this work. It has been reported in the media that the Divisional Railway Manager has stated that according to Section 11 of the Indian Railway Act, 1989, the Railways have every right to erect buildings on their own land without having to obtain sanction of the municipal or cantonment authorities in whose areas the site may be situated. The DRM is reported to have said that since the Indian Railways Act is a Central Government Act, it overrides the local municipal as well as corporation Acts. It has also been reported that the DRM has threatened MCC with legal action.

We believe that the DRM's statements are incorrect. Firstly, Sec. 11 of the Railways Act, 1989 does not say that Railways are not bound by local planning authorities. Secondly, it is wrong to state that the Railways Act, just because it is a Central Act, overrides all State and local rules and regulations. The Constitution of India foresaw that such disputes of jurisdiction would arise between the Central government and the State governments and so clearly demarcated the jurisdiction of both in Article 246 and the Seventh Schedule which lists all the Central, State (and Concurrent) subjects. Urban development is on the State list and so Central government (and the Railways) can not usurp the power of the State government in this matter. In fact, the website of the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India () states "In the federal structure of the Indian polity, the matters pertaining to the housing and urban development have been assigned by the Constitution of India to the State Governments. The Constitution (74th Amendment) Act have further delegated many of these functions to the urban local bodies. The constitutional and legal authority of the Govt. of India is limited only to Delhi and other Union Territories and to the subject which State Legislatures authorize the Union Parliament to legislate." So even Central Acts can not overrule the Comprehensive Development Plan and the building bylaws of local bodies.So the Railways have to follow the building bylaws of MCC and should obtain building licence and completion report from MCC.

It would be good if some lawyers or experts on the Constitution throw more light on this matter.

B.Vaikunth Shenoy, Mysore Grahakara Parishat
 

MGP Writes To Minister On Illegal Land Use Change

MGP has written to B.Suresh Kumar, Karnataka Minister for Urban Development about several land use change policies of Mysore Urban Development Authority and Mysore City Corporation which are destroying the very foundations of orderly growth of the city. Of such policies, special attention has been drawn to three:

1. Residential -> Commercial Land Use Change
All over the city, residential -> commercial land use change is being given by MUDA to any one who applies. As a result, shops, hotels, scooter and car garages are appearing in the middle of residential neighbourhoods causing nuisance to the residents. This is certainly not orderly development of the city.

Sec. 14(a)(1) of the Karnataka Town And Country Planning Act, 1961 mandates that land use change can be effected only when such changes are in the public interest. In approving residential -> commercial land use changes, MUDA is claiming that they will help surrounding residents buy necessary merchandise and that many jobs will be created in these shops and hence public interest is being served. These reasons are far from the truth and are ludicrous. These areas already have shops and if more shops are allowed, they will only benefit their owners and not the public. Secondly, if creation of jobs is a valid public interest reason, can one permit a factory which creates a thousand jobs to come up on a residential site? Therefore MUDA should reject all these reasons and refuse permission for the land use change. When the reasons are so frivolous, it is amazing that MUDA has not offhand rejected the land use change applications and has actually published them in newspapers.

Even though the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, 1961 permits it, the Karnataka High Court has said (1988(3) KLJ 543) that the conditions and limitations imposed by the original scheme can not be changed. The Court has clearly stated that land use conversions, especially, residential -> commercial, residential -> public, public/semi-public -> commercial land use changes should not be effected.

MGP has repeatedly opposed such land use conversions (It has filed more than 50 such objections), but MUDA routinely ignores them and permits these illegal land use conversions.

2. Permitting Apartment Buildings On Residential Sites
Even though apartment buildings are used for residential purposes, they are in the nature of a commercial building according to the above High Court order. Therefore, building apartment buildings on residential sites without obtaining land use change is a violation of land use rules and the Comprehensive Development Plan. But MCC routinely allows such buildings to be built. Even though MGP has brought the land use violations to MUDA's notice repeatedly, MUDA has not bothered to act.

3. Agricultural -> Residential Land Use Change
MUDA approvals of agricultural -> residential change applications by land owners has become a flood. Even though there are public objections to these land use conversions, MUDA is allowing indiscriminately private layouts to come up on these lands

This development is undesirable on several counts. Firstly, MUDA is abdicating its legally mandated responsibility to acquire land, develop it and provide it to the qualified public at a reasonable rate. Secondly, it is encouraging land speculation which will drive the prices of sites to levels beyond the reach of the average person. These high prices will not reach the farmers who are the original owners of the land, because as the government itself has admitted, land mafia have entered this business in a big way and it will make huge profits at the expense of both the farmers and the people who buy these sites. Thirdly, integrated city planning will have no meaning when hundreds of such small layouts of (some as small as 1000 sq.ft.!) mushroom everywhere. According to town planning regulations, 15% percent of the land has to be reserved for parks and 10% for civic amenities. If the entire area is the size of a hand kerchief, can one provide parks and CA sites bigger than a postage stamp? Where is the space for roads? With hundreds of such mini developments coming up, can we even align their roads? Why is MUDA not paying attention to these glaring problems?

Despite repeated reminders, MUDA and MCC are ignoring these glaring problems and destroying the very purpose of city planning. Therefore MGP has requested the Minister to look into these problems and take prompt and suitable action on them.

B.Vaikunth Shenoy, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Why Are Government Buildings Not Getting Building Licence From MCC?

It has been reported in the media that Mysore City Corporation has stopped the construction of a building being built by the Railways at the railway station because it does not have a building licence from MCC. MCC has to be congratulated for this act. Each city has a comprehensive development plan for its orderly growth and it is the duty of MCC and MUDA to see that alll development in the city and all buildings follow this plan. If everyone starts building according to his whims and fancies contrary to this plan, the city will lose its beauty. This is especially true for a "heritage" city such as Mysore.

But various arms of the central and state governments seem to feel that the comprehensive development plan of Mysore does not apply to them. With a "Why should we bow down to MCC?" attitude, they do not bother getting building licences or completion reports from MCC. For example, the choultry built by the Railways near Venkataramana Swamy Temple on KRS Road does not have either the building licence or the CR. Similarly, the Mysore University buildings behind Crawford Hall and in front of Yuvaraja College do not have a licence or a CR. MCC has confirmed these facts. It is also doubtful if the University Guest House on Fire Brigade Road in Saraswatipuram has these documents either.

Government buildings are exempt from property tax of MCC (This exemption is limited to non-residential and non-commercial buildings. The commercial building the Railways are building at the railway station can not get property tax exemption), but they are not exempt from obtaining licence and CR from MCC. Therefore, it is better if MCC takes action against all such buildings.

D.V. Dayanand Sagar, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Can Consumers Unite to Assert their Rights?

All of us are consumers in one way or the other and thus we are the largest voting block with the least amount of power exercised. We allow ourselves to be taken for a ride irrespective of whether we are educated or not. Why? Despite being the largest group, consumer is unaware of her importance in the economy. Most of us are like those in Tenali Ramas story that since others will put milk, they can manage by pouring water. In todays world such free loading attitude does not work.

Today consumer is the most victimized person in our society today. Apart from being a most contemptible act of cheating the consumer public, who are unwillingly made to pay more for low quality goods, adulteration of food stuffs can easily cause serious and irreparable damage to the health of the consumers. Adulteration of food stuffs, and supply of spurious drugs are the worst crimes against society. It is a matter of great regret that consumer movement in India is still non existent even after celebrations of world and national consumer days every year. They have just become rituals.

There is nothing wrong in earning legitimate profits. Profits become obscene only when they are earned illegally. According to some reports short supply in weight and measures amount to 5 to 20%,. This is one way of short changing the consumer. Food adulteration is more than 30% and this has been demonstrated year after year for Mysore by MGP through its annual testing of food samples. Although there are consumer protective legislation such as sale of Goods Act, Drug Control Act, PFA Act, FPO Act, etc, they are not of much help. The machinery of enforcement is not only inadequate but corrupt. In addition there is also the much dreaded red tape and inordinate delay in the quick disposal of complaints of consumers not only in civil courts, but also in consumer courts.

Quality goods move slowly while shoddy, sub standard products enjoy brisk sales. This is mostly because of the apathy and collosal ignorance of the Indian consumers vis-a-vis organized trade and inefficient and corrupt bureaucracy. Advertising has been often criticized for creating false needs. In these days of plethora of advertising and mass media, how many people can remain unaffected by the false values created by false advertising? Whatever rules and regulations the state can make for manufacturers and consumers, unless the principle of honesty is practiced by both the sides, no amount of rules and regulations can help.

The technological progress has brought in a new crop of problems. The excessive use of chemical fertilizers, irradiation of food for presentation, use of pesticides, washing detergents, sophisticated pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, to name but a few have done a good deal of harm to the consumer.

Consumer organizations should form an united front to boycott shops indulging in food adulteration. They should educate consumers on their rights, responsibilities and also how powerful they are if peaceful protests are organized in a united way.

No matter how much legislation we get passed in the parliament, government alone cannot protect consumers unless we the consumers join in large numbers irrespective of status so that a massive front can be built to protect the consumer against unscrupulous and sharp practices.

C. V. Nagaraj, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Photos of February 2010 issue of Grahaka Patrike

(Bhamy V. Shenoy)

MGP in association with other NGOs arranged for a talk by Dr. Shiv Chopra on 20-2-10 on "The Health Effects of Genetically Modified Foods"

(Bhamy V. Shenoy)

More than one hundred people participated in the public interaction with Dr. Shiv Chopra on 20-2-10

(Vishwas Krishna)

There are signs all over the new city bus stand prohibiting people from walking on the bus paths. But to climb on Route Nos. 116 and 119, one has to walk around the bus (and in the path of other buses).

High-Rise Fires Waiting To Happen

The recent devastating fire in a high-rise building in Bangalore made headlines in all the newspapers. Myosre is hast becoming a high-rise city with hundreds of tall buildings which have either already come up or are being built. To find out if similar catastrophes can happen in Mysore, a delegation from Mysore Grahakara Parishat met Mr. C. Gurulingaiah, the Regional Fire Officer recently.

The Karnataka State Government has issued a notification No. NaAI:628:MNY:2003 dated 19-12-2003 which mandates that all high-rise buildings (HRBs meaning, buildings having five (1+4) floors or more or taller than 15 meters) in Mysore should strictly follow the National Building Code on the provision of fire prevention and fire-fighting equipment. The GO further states that a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the fire department is mandatory before licence to build a multi-storeyed building is issued. Also, a clearance certificate from the fire department is compulsory for issuing a completion report.

The Joint Director of the Department of Fire Services has issued a letter (No. GBC (1) 42/2003 dated 20-01-2004) reminding the City Corporation and MUDA that the GO has to be obeyed. The present RFO has also issued reminder to the civic authorities in Mysore about this matter.

But despite these notifications and reminders, several dozens of buildings which have not received clearance certificates from the fire department are functioning as apartment buildings, hospitals, hotels and commercial complexes. Either Mysore City Corporation has illegally issued completion reports to these buildings (without a clearance certificate from the fire department) or these buildings are being illegally occupied (because Sec. 310(2) of the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act prohibits occupation of a building which has no CR) and MCC is not taking any action against such violations. THESE BUILDINGS ARE UNSAFE FROM THE FIRE ANGLE AND SO BANGALORE TYPE DISASTERS ARE WAITING TO HAPPEN IN MYSORE ALSO.

Some of the fire department regulations have been included in the 2003 edition of the Bangalore building bylaws (available here ). These are derived from the specifications given in Part 4 (Fire and Life Safety) of the National Building Code (click here). A look at just a few of the statutes related to HRBs makes it obvious that OF THE HUNDREDS OF HRB'S IN MYSORE, ALMOST NONE SATISFIES THE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS:

1. HRBs can be constructed only on roads wider than 12 m (to provide access to fire engines).

2. Every HRB must have at least two means of access (remote from one another) of minimum 4.5 m width and minimum 4.5 m clearance.

3. HRB of 15 m height must have 5 m setback on all sides. The setback width increases by 1m for every 3m increase in height of the building. The setback on all sides must be hard-surfaced to carry a load of 18 tons (the weight of a fire engine) and must be free of any structures, projection or construction upto a height of 4.5 m so that fire engines can go around the building without hindrance.

4. Car parking must be at the basement and it should be provided with at least two ramps (remote from one another). Car parking can be provided in the setbacks around the building only if the setbacks are more than 9 m wide and a space of 5 m from the building line is left free for the movement of fire engines.

5. Every HRB must have at least two staircases (remote from one another) abutting the outer wall of the building. The staircases must be enclosed and must have fire resistant doors. They must not extend to the basement.

There are additional requirements in the National Building Code on construction materials, fire fighting installations, fire alarms, sprinkler systems, etc., which are not met in most HRBs. Even without considering them and considering only the requirements listed above, it is clear that there is scarcely any high-rise building in Mysore which meets them. Such HRBs can not get a clearance certificate from the fire department and hence a CR from the City Corporation. Occupying these buildings would be illegal. PROSPECTIVE TENANTS AND BUYERS OF THESE PROPERTIES MUST BE AWARE OF THIS FACT. It is shocking that civic authorities are allowing multi-storeyed buildings to be built and occupied all over the city, in total disregard of fire safety considerations.

It is surprising that the building bylaws of Bangalore are fairly comprehensive about the fire requirements, while the bylaws of Mysore City Corporation are woefully deficient. Most of the requirements mentioned above are absent from MCC bylaws. As a result, these bylaws mislead the builders. Even if a building is built in strict accordance with MCC bylaws, it will, in all probability not meet all the requirements of the fire department and will not receive its clearance. According to law, it can not receive a CR from MCC and can not be legally occupied. It has been 7 years since the GO on fire safety was issued and it is shocking that MCC has still not incorporated it into its building bylaws.

Even though the municipal law is strong in Bangalore, its enforcement is weak as evidenced in the recent disaster. In Mysore, the municipal law itself is weak.

Apart from the high-rise buildings which now dot the Mysore landscape and pose the biggest threat to fire safety, there are many other high fire risk areas. A major public fire risk is Devaraja Market. Since the footpaths have all been encroached, it is not easily accessible to the fire fighters. The highly combustible plastic awnings increase the fire hazard even more. Exhibition-sales which take place throughout the year in various open grounds and various indoor halls in the city also do not get clearance from the fire department and run a high risk of fire disasters.

Another factor which increases the chance of a fire disaster in Mysore is the apparent lack of coordination between the fire department, the police, the paramedics and municipal authorities. This is hampering the disaster management capabilities of the fire department.

P.M. Bhat, Mysore Grahakara Parishat