Poor street signs of Mysore

Recently, I made a Mysore Darshan covering about 30 kilometers of various localities of Mysore to study street signboards. I found that about 70% of the streets in Mysore do not have any signboards for identification. Many important and major roads also do not have signboards.

Among the one third of the streets which do have signboards, the existing signboards are in such bad condition that they are useless. Some of them are so faded that one can not read anything (but the names of the sponsors are still clear and legible!), some are positioned at such an angle that one can not say if the signboard refers to the main road or the cross road and a few signboards are totally blank!

I have lived in Yadavagiri for the last 5 years and even now I do not know many streets in my neighbourhood for want of proper signboards. Many times I am embarrassed to guide people looking for an address because I am not aware of its exact location despite residing close by.

Mysore being a heritage city, hundreds of thousands of tourists visit the city throughout the year and proper signboards are a MUST. MCC must immediately plan and take action for installing new signboards in the entire city. It would be better if there are signboards which directions as well as distances to various important landmarks, monuments and other tourist attractions. 

The present design of the street name boards (cement boards) does not seem to be suitable. Vandals and advertisers deface them within no time. One design that may be considered is a painted metal plate, (say, 1'x3') which can accommodate both Kannada and English signs and which is positioned several feet above the ground.

Dwarkanath Narayan, Mysore Grahakara Parishat 

Photos from the July 2012 issue of Grahaka Patrike

(Bhamy V.Shenoy)

A public library is coming up on this 340x400 feet site at the southern corner of People's Park. any building in the park is a violation of the Karnataka Parks, Playfields and Open Spaces (Preservation and Regulation) Act, 1985.

  (B.V.Shenoy)

The outline of the foundation for the new library building in People's Park has been marked.

(B.V.Shenoy)

Various NGOs of Mysore held a meeting at People's Park on 27-5-12 to oppose the proposed library building. Some saplings were planted symbolically.

(B.V.Shenoy)

People' Park has already been encroached by a PU College, tennis club, temple, dargah and private taxi stand. The proposed library building is one more encroachment. MCC is also using the park to dump building debris.

Campaign to save the lung spaces of Mysore

Mysore is no more a garden city. Instead, it is becoming a concrete jungle. On paper, we have more than 600 parks in the city. But only 120 of them have been developed and can be recognized as parks. Since the land occupied by the parks is extremely valuable real estate, there is tremendous pressure to encroach. The best example of such encroaching is People's Park where one can find a PU college, a tennis club, a temple, a dargah and a private bus stand It is also being used by the authorities to dump debris. Now another attempt is being made to encroach on People's Park by building a public library there.
 

The Supreme Court has repeatedly given judgements to prevent the encroachment of parks. The law allows only a structure of less than 30 square meters (323 sq.ft.) in a park and that too for watchmen's quarters. Despite these legal restrictions, our parks are being systematically decimated. The time has now come for us the citizens to develop a strategy to prevent the destruction of parks in the city and to preserve our lung spaces.
 

Mysore Grahakara Parishat, Mysore Youth Forum, Parisara Samrakshana Samithi and other NGOs are holding a unique "teach-in" on the need for lung space for Mysore. This is not a protest, but just a Gandhian type activity to reflect on how our parks are disappearing, how losing lung space is harmful, and what people can do about it. It is the hope that the youth of Mysore with their creative and open minds can come up with solutions where the older generation has failed.
 

We are giving a call to the youth of Mysore (high school and college students) to come to People's Park on Sunday, June 24 at 10AM to participate in this program which may shape the future of Mysore. Along with sharing of ideas, there will be painting by young artists, music, planting of saplings, etc. For more information, call MGP at 2515150

Bhamy V.Shenoy, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Diesel fumes cause lung cancer - World Health Organization

The World Health Organization declared on 12-6-12 that diesel fumes cause lung cancer. According to experts, diesel fumes are more carcinogenic than secondhand cigarette smoke.   

In a decision announced in Lyon, France, after a week long meeting to review scientific data, W.H.O. elevated diesel fumes to "Group 1 Carcinogen" status. Smoking, asbestos, ultraviolet radiation, etc. are also in "Group 1 Carcinogen" list.  

Countries who are members of W.H.O. including India are expected to follow suit and declare diesel fumes a carcinogen.  

Reacting to the dangers posed by secondhand smoking to non-smokers, India banned smoking in public places a few years ago by enacting The Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Rules, 2008. Since diesel fumes pose a bigger risk to millions of people such as heavy vehicle drivers and persons who live or conduct business near major roads and highways, the government is bound to take some legal action on diesel fumes also.

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

New twist in the People's Park imbroglio

The Chief Minister recently laid the foundation stone for the new public library building to be built in a 400x340 plot in the southern corner of People's Park at a cost of Rs. 4 crores. This has led to protests by many organizations and citizens interested in preserving People's Park as a park.  

It may be recalled that the government had entered into an agreement with a private builder, M/s Revathy Enterprises in 1995 to build a public library cum commercial complex in the same location. The agreement leased the 1.36 lakh sq. ft. plot to the builder for a minimum period of 30 years at an annual rent of Rs. 1,80,000 and called for the builder to provide 15,000 sq.ft. of built area for a public library and utilize the remaining portion of the plot for a commercial complex. There were public protests when the agreement became public knowledge and MGP filed a PIL in the Karnataka High Court against the construction since it violated the Karnataka Parks, Play-fields and Open Spaces (Preservation and Regulation) Act, 1985. Sec.6 of the Act prohibits the use of parks for any other purpose. Probably because of the public outcry, the authorities stopped the work.  

Now the government has revived the project to build a public library in People's Park. But this time, the builder is Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited (formerly Karnataka Land Army Corporation), a government of Karnataka undertaking. The building with a floor area of 25,000 sq.ft. is expected to be complete by 2014.  

At least, that was the expectation when the project was revived. Now a spanner has been thrown in the works as M/s Revathy Enterprises has filed a writ petition (No. 10743 of 1012) on 3-4-12 in the Karnataka High Court. It is claimed in the writ petition that the opposition to the project was politically motivated. It is also claimed that government renegotiated the terms of the contract in 2003 and that M/s Revathy Enterprises agreed to the revised terms. It is further claimed that the government issued a show cause notice in 2007 to the petitioners to terminate the contract. The writ petition essentially asks the Court to quash the show cause notice to cancel the contract as well as the decision of the government to build the library on its own.  

The writ petition puts a new twist to the People's Park tangle. Construction material has been dumped at the site, but it is not known if the authorities will begin construction of the public library when the writ petition is still pending before the High Court.

B.V. Shenoy, Mysore Grahakara Parishat 

Update on Four-lane Road and Ropeway on Chamundi Hills

The Minister-in-charge of Mysore District announced recently that a new four-lane road will be built from the foothills to the top of Chamundi Hills. MGP filed an RTI application with the forest department concerning this announcement. According to the reply we have received, the project proposal was submitted under Forest Conservation Act 1980 by the Executive Engineer, Public Works, Port and Inland Transport Department, Mysore Division on 9-3-12. No clearance has been given yet by the forest department.

In reply to a query on the ropeway project, the forest department has answered that 2.22 hectares of land were leased to in favour of M/ s Seeka Inter Plan System, Bangalore for a period 10 years. The lease period expired in 2007. Therefore, the Conservator of Forests, Mysore Circle, has recommended to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Bangalore, to reject the proposal in the interest of public.

R.Chandra Prakash, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Dangerous Road

Half of Vivekananda Road in Yadavagiri was asphalted more than two months ago and the other half is yet to be touched. This is causing problems. Since the non-asphalted half is in bad condition, all the vehicles want to use the asphalted portion only. As a result, two-way traffic is going on half the road. Needless to say, this is a surefire recipe for accidents.

B.V. Shenoy, Mysore Grahakara Parishat 

We want library desperately but not in People's Park

Most of us environmentalists including MGP members are also strong believers in having a world class library befitting the rich heritage of the city. We completely agree with Sri Chennappa of the Library Department that the current library is a disgrace to our city. If only we had a responsible library leadership, we would have got a far better library constructed in a suitable place since it was conceived in 1984. It could have met the legal as well as the aesthetic requirements to help the senior citizens, women, reading public, youth etc even in a far more central and easily accessible location. There must have been several such sites available since 1984. But our land mafia must have had a master plan to destroy People's Park.

Now after 20 odd years we learn officially that the library authority was planning to hand over land first meant for park and then for library to private parties who were ready to "donate" a free library. Even assuming for the sake of argument that it is legally permitted to construct a library, how can we be sure that in the future this very library authority will not hand over the building for the use of some commercial authorities? ÿAlso how can we be sure that MCC will not hand over land for other purposes, having ÿonce succeeded in handing over the park land to uses other than park by flouting the law?  

Citizens kept quiet earlier when part of land was handed over to tennis courts first in the 1950s. At that time there were no"pseudo-environmentalist" that library authorities were referring to activists like us. Then another - even larger- portion was handed over to construct a college for girls. Then also the citizens kept quiet. Then a temple was erected and no attempt was made to vacate it despite the protests by few citizens including MGP. Soon a dargah structure appeared and the citizens did nothing.  

However times have changed now. In 90s, with greater appreciation for environment and also having seen how once Bangalore city was destroyed,ÿ MGP took up the cause seriously and prevented library cum commercial buildings coming up in People's Park through a PIL. Later MGP also prevented portion of the land being handed over for the use of private bus stand.  

Yes, we do need a library. But why should it be in People's Park and that too in violation of the law? It is a crying shame that neither MCC officials led by its commissioner and the elected representatives like MLAs and city corporators are totally indifferent to the cause of saving lung space or of upholding the law.  

We urge MCC and MUDA to identify a suitable land for the library and take back the People's Park land from the library authority. For example, library could be located in a dilapidated building where Janata Bazar is located. There are large CA sites laying vacant inÿ some of the MUDA layouts and this library building can be built there.  

MGP succeeded in getting the illegal structure built in Cheluvamba park demolished. It was reduced in size to meet the requirement of Karnataka Park Act. If the library in People's Park were to face a similar fate, who will be the ultimate losers? It is we the tax payers.

Bhamy V. Shenoy, Mysore Grahakara Parishat 

RTI applicants are not consumers!

In a decision which has shocked consumers, the National Consumer Commission has reversed itself and ruled that applicants for information under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RIA) are not consumers.

RIA came into effect in 2005. Before 2005, there was Karnataka Right to Information Act which was very similar to RIA. Under both the Acts, a person who applies for information pays an application fee and hence providing information becomes a service rendered for a consideration under the Consumer Protection Act (CPA). It was with this logic that the National Commission had ruled in  on 28-5-09 (in Revision Petition No. 1975/2005) that an applicant for information is a consumer under CPA and if the concerned official does not provide information within one month, he can be held guilty of deficiency in service and punished under CPA. The decision of the National Commission was with reference to the Karnataka Right to Information Act, but since it is very similar to RIA, the same logic should hold for RIA also. Numerous consumer courts have relied on this decision to punish,  under CPA, officials who did not provide information in time.

This was a boon to RIA applicants. One can also prosecute the errant official under RIA, but RIA provides only for punishment of officials, but  the applicant does not get any compensation for his troubles. Thus CPA provides better justice than RIA and the applicants could both punish the errant officials and obtain compensation also under CPA.

But in a decision given on 31-3-2011 (in Revision Petition No. 4061/2010), the National Commission has reversed itself and declared that RIA applicants are not consumers under CPA since there is a remedy available for the applicant under Section 19 of RIA. It is well-established that CPA is an additional remedy available to consumers even when there is another law which is applicable. Unless there is an express provision in the other law which ousts the jurisdiction of CPA (such as the Railway Claims Tribunal Act regarding railway claims or the Motor Vehicles Act regarding compensation in road accidents), one can always make use of CPA as an easy and inexpensive means of obtaining justice. This fact has been reiterated countless times both by the National Commission and the Supreme Court, but has been inexplicably ignored in the present decision of the National Commission.

As a result, RIA applicants who do not get the information within one month can no longer approach the consumer courts for justice. This is a big blow to RIA applicants.

An NGO of Hyderabad by the name Gareeb Guide International has now filed a PIL before the Supreme Court to overturn the National Commission decision. Consumers are hoping that the PIL will succeed.

Photos from the June 2012 issue of Grahaka Patrike

(Bhamy V.Shenoy)

The Chief Minister recently laid the foundation stone for building a public library in People's Park. This area has been declared a park in the RCDP of Mysore. Cosntruction of any building in the park is illegal.

 (R.Chandra Prakash)

MCC is building a canopy for the "Cow and Calf" sculpture in Gokulam. This not only destroys the beauty of the park, but is also a traffic hazard by blocking the vision of drivers at the cross-roads.

(B.V.Shenoy)

MCC has asphalted only half of Vivekananda Road in Yadavagiri. Since the drivers want to avoid the potholes in the other half, all the traffic is moving in just the paved half of the road. This is an invitation to disaster.

Supreme Court ruling on car window films

The Supreme Court has recently (27-4-2012) passed an order on use of films on vehicle windscreens and windows. Different papers have reported it differently, police all over the country are taking action and MGP has received numerous queries on the exact meaning of the judgment. The order passed by a three-man bench consisting of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia and Justices A.K. Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar is available here. A careful reading of the text reveals ambiguities which we were not able to resolve. We will first give what the law says and then list some of the unresolved ambiguities and inconsistencies in the judgment.   

Sec. 100 of the Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 (MVR) is the law which deals with vehicle windscreens and windows. According to it, the glass of windscreens and the windows of every motor vehicle should be made of safety glass. The glass of the windscreen and rear window should have a VLT (visible light transmittance) of 70% or more and the VLT of the side windows should be 50% or more. VLT is just a technical name for transparency and so a black glass which does not allow any light to pass has 0 % VLT and a perfectly transparent glass has 100% VLT. It is significant that the law is silent on films applied to car windows.  

 The judgment interprets the 70% and 50% VLT levels specified in the law to refer to the  time of manufacture of the safety glasses and hence prohibits application of any film to the glasses. This interpretation is contrary to that given in other countries. For example, Sec. 100 of the MVR is very similar to the applicable law in the UK (Regulations 31 and 32 of the The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986) which prescribes VLT limits of 75% and 70%. Neither the Indian law nor the UK law mentions films, but the UK law is interpreted to permit films on glasses as long as the VLT limits are satisfied. Higher courts in India generally refer to interpretations of similar laws in other countries, especially UK, but it has not been done here. It would have been nice if the Supreme Court had considered the interpretation of the UK law and explained why it may not be applicable.  

Now some of the ambiguities, inaccuracies, inconsistencies and typos which detract from the solemnity of the Supreme Court judgment.  

The judgment prohibits the use of "black films of any VLT percentage". Black films have a VLT of 0% and if the VLT is neither 0% or 100%, the film is grey and not black. So the words "black films of any VLT percentage" used throughout the judgment is confusing.  

Para 3 of the judgment says "The glasses of the vehicles having a coating of black films cannot be termed as 'tinted glasses'". The Court seems to be under the mistaken impression that Sec. 100 of the MVR permits tinted glasses on automobiles. But Sec. 100 of the MVR speaks only of the VLT of the windows, but does not refer to "tinted glasses".  

Para 8 of the judgment says that black film on vehicle glasses is banned in Afghanistan, Belarus, Nigeria, Uganda and Pakistan. It also says that use of black films is not prevalent in United States of America, United Kingdom, Germany and other countries as well. But this is not true. Window films are allowed in the USA, UK and Germany. In fact, all the European countries allow films on vehicle glasses, but some countries such as France and Spain do not permit it on the windshield.  

One of the reasons put forth in the judgment to extend Sec. 100 of the MVR to completely prohibit film on car windows is the fact that luxmeters (instruments which measure VLT of glass) are a "scarce" resource and "is very scantily available with the police personnel in India".  But luxmeters are quite cheap (Rs. 2000-2500 per unit and probably cheaper if purchased in bulk) and there is no reason the police can not afford them. Also, lack of equipment can not be a reason for reinterpreting the law.  

In Para 18, the judgment says "Another adverse aspect of use of black films is that even if they reflect tolerable VLT in the day time, still in the night it would clearly violate the prescribed VLT limits and would result in poor visibility, which again would be impermissible." Since VLT is just another name for transparency, it can not change from daytime to nighttime. Further, "reflecting tolerable VLT" is difficult to understand. This para is quite confusing.  

Para 27 of the judgment prohibits the use of black films of any VLT percentage or any other material upon vehicle glasses, but, the next para omits the words "or any other material". It is not known if the omission is intentional and not a typographical error.  

 Para 19 of the judgment speaks of police authorities from the "states of Calcutta, Tamil Nadu and Delhi". It should have been West Bengal and not Calcutta.  

A review petition to the Supreme Court may clear up these anomalies in the present judgment and give a clearer interpretation of the law about the use of films on car windows.

Dwarkanath Narayan, Mysore Grahakara Parishat 

Cow and calf park: Vandalism in the name of the development

At the junction of Gokulam Road and the KRS Road there is small triangular park with a sculpture of a cow and a calf under a huge tree. This is popularly known as Cow and Calf Park. The park may be small in size but it is a part of the glorious history of this city. According to "The Raj, Maharaja and Me" by M.G.Srinivasan, ICS, Nalwadi Krishna Raja Wodeyar was irked by stray cows roaming about on the streets of Mysore. But he also knew that hundreds of families depended on these cows for their livelihood. So all the cows and the families dependent on them were moved outside the city to a place near PKTB Sanatorium which provided adequate grazing grounds for the animals and a dignified existence for the owners. This area is now known as Gokulam First Stage. The park and the statue of Cow and Calf were established to commemorate this event. 

Unfortunately, MCC has now taken up the "development" of this park. Six concrete pillars, which cover more than 50% of the park area have been erected for a canopy for the sculpture (See Phooto). Why is MCC wasting an enormous amount of money for an unnecessary canopy instead of spending it to maintain this and other parks in good repair? The canopy will block the vision of drivers at the busy traffic junction and will this not increase the danger of accidents? Will not the canopy encourage unscrupulous elements to convert it into a temple and destroy the park completely?

Prof. R.Chandra Prakash, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Campaign to save Green Zone of Mysore

The government has held a foundation stone laying ceremony for building a public library in People's Park. Use of a park for non-park uses is prohibited by the Karnataka Parks, Play Fields and Open Spaces Act of 1985. When a similar project was undertaken in 2000, MGP filed a writ petition before the Karnataka High Court and the project was dropped. Then there were plans to convert the same park into a private bus stand., but widespread public protests stopped it. The law has not changed, but the government is trying its luck one more time.  

Lack of space in the present central public library is cited as one of the reasons for building the library. But the present location is far superior as far as access, especially to the elderly and the poor, is concerned. Furthermore, there is the law of the land against the new location.  

Environmentally concerned residents of Mysore will assemble on Sunday, May 27th at 10 AM in People's Park (opposite Madhwesha Complex on Male Mahadeshwara Road) to urge a stop to further encroachment of the park. Several prominent citizens of Mysore as well as Mysore Grahakara Parishat and Mysore Youth Forum have already extended support to this campaign. For more information please call MGP at 2515150.

B.V. Shenoy, Mysore Grahakara Parishat