Mysore Grahakara Parishat

MGP conducts lecture-demo on food adulteration

2012-02-19T08:40:00.000-08:00

Mysore Grahakara Parishat recently conducted a lecture-demonstration on food adulteration detection at the following places: Depaul International School and College, Belagola, Tharalabalu Samagama, Tilak Nagar, NSS camp of JSS University and Pharmacy College, Jeemaranahalli, Gen. Kariappa College, Madikeri, Government Junior College, Madikeri, Government Higher Primary School, Sampaje, Government Higher Primary School, Virajpet, Government Higher Primary School, Gonikoppa and Vidya Vikas High School and College, Periapatna.

Under the direction of C.V. Nagaraj (formerly Senior Chemist, Regional Agmark Laboratory, Bangalore), students themselves conducted simple tests to detect adulteration in various food items. C.V. Nagaraj also spoke about the harmful effects of various types of adulteration and on the laws that exist in India against food adulteration. Associations interested in arranging such lecture-demos can contact C.V.Nagaraj (Ph: 2521640).

District consumer forum is not consumer friendly

2012-02-16T18:37:00.000-08:00

MGP has been receiving several complaints about the delays in getting decisions from the Mysore District Consumer Forum (DCF). To check these complaints, MGP filed an RTI application with the registrar of the Mysore DCF asking for details about the cases decided by the Forum in the eighteen month period between 1-1-10 and 30-6-11. Based on the information provided, we notice several violations of the laws, rules and regulations which has caused avoidable harassment to the consumers.

Sec. 3A of the Consumer Protection Act mandates that every effort must be made by the DCF to decide a complaint within three months. But it appears that the Mysore DCF is not following this direction. Of the 1202 cases decided, only 650 (54%) were decided within 3 months. 482 cases (40%) of the cases took between 3 months and 6 months to decide while 70 cases (6%) took more than 6 months to decide. These delays are causing needless inconvenience and expenditure to the public causing them to lose faith in the consumer courts.

Sec. 3A of the Consumer Protection Act also mandates that adjournments are not ordinarily given. It again appears that the Mysore DCF is violating this direction. Of the 1202 cases decided, NONE were decided without adjournments (which is definitely against the intention of the law). 116 cases (10%) took 1-3 adjournments, 526 cases (44%) took 3-10 adjournments and 560 cases (46%) took more than 10 adjournments. So 90% of the cases before the Mysore DCF take more than 3 hearings and nearly half the cases take more than 10 hearings to be decided. One case against MUDA has taken 30 hearings. Such delays defeat the whole reason for enacting the CP Act, namely, speedy justice.

Sec. 11 of the Consumer Protection Regulations, 2005 makes it clear that if a party asks for adjournments, the DCF should levy a fine of not less than 500 Rs., except in very rare cases in which it can be reduced to 100 Rs. But in no case, can the cost of an adjournment be less than 100 Rs. It again appears that the Mysore DCF is violating these directions. Of the 1202 cases (i.e., all the cases that were before the DCF) which had at least one adjournment, costs were levied only in 318 cases (29%). Even in these cases, the directions given by the Consumer Protection Regulations were not followed. The cost was Rs. 500 or more only in 40 cases (13%). In 250 cases (79%), it was Rs. 50 which is clearly forbidden by the Regulations. What is surprising is that the party asking adjournments in all the 250 cases in which Rs. 50 was levied as the cost of adjournment was the same defendant, namely, Chanakya Finance Corporation.

It is the intention of the Consumer Protection Regulations that a portion of the cost imposed for asking an adjournments should go to the DCF (to be deposited in the deposited in the Consumer Legal Aid Account) and the remaining portion given to the other party to defray his expenses. But in Mysore DCF, this is rarely done.

We have also received complaints that some parties against whom the DCF has passed orders are not obeying these orders, but the DCF is not exercising powers given under Secs. 25 and 27 of the Consumer Protection Act to punish them. Such lenience will encourage more people to violate the orders of the DCF and make real consumer protection a mirage.

Let us give some specific anti-consumer actions by the Mysore DCF given recently based on certified copies of order sheets obtained from the DCF.
1. Case No. Ex.Cr. 79/2010 (Original Case CC 79/2009)

The DCF took nearly 30 hearings to give a decision. Adjournments were given to the defendant regularly, but after the 3rd hearing, the DCF stopped giving costs to the complainant. So the complainant had to appear for more than 25 hearings at his own cost. The defendant disobeyed the DCF's order and also did not attend the hearings of the execution (criminal) proceedings in spite of being served 3 non-bailable warrants. Instead of holding the defendant personally responsible and imposing a jail sentence for this gross contempt, the DCF imposed a fine of just Rs. 2500. The defendant has again ignored this order. The fine is yet to be paid.

2. Case No. CC 1070/2010

After holding nearly 30 hearings, the DCF declared that the complainant (who was an old illiterate widow who had complained that she had not obtained an Ashraya house 8 years after her late husband had paid the deposit) was not a consumer since she was getting the house at a concessional rate. It is not clear why it took the DCF 20 hearings to even decide if the complainant was a consumer. Further the reason given by it to declare her a non-consumer is wrong since, the Consumer Protection Act bars only free goods and services from the purview of the Act and not goods and services given at a concessional rate. An appeal against this decision of the DCF is pending before the State Commission for the last 5 months.

3. Case No. Ex.Cr. 131/2010 (Original Case CC 601/2010)

The opposite party did not appear in spite of several non-bailable warrants. The DCF concluded the hearings several times by recording the last hearing as "final", yet no decision was given at the next hearing. After nearly 20 hearings, the case was closed on 18-1-2012 by compromise between the parties.

4. Case No. Ex.Cr. 126/2010 (Original Case CC 231/2010)

The DCF ordered the opposite party to pay Rs. 47,000 and he paid Rs. 7,500 after 12 hearings. The case dragged on and the he paid another installment of Rs. 10,000 after 20 hearings. A warrant was issued for his arrest, but the opposite party escaped arrest by posting bail. The money due from the opposite party is increasing. The DCF does not give costs for execution proceedings and so the cost of attending the hearings is also increasing for the complainant. The case is still going on and there are no signs that the opposite party will ever fully obey the order of the DCF. The case is now posted for 21-2-2012.

Sreemathi Hariprasad, President, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Railways take action

2012-02-08T07:48:00.000-08:00

MGP had recently issued a press statement that Mysore City Corporation is levelling the land in Yadavagiri next to the Arasikere Railway line to construct some buildings supposedly under the JNNURM project. But contrary to law, the work was going on without getting an NOC from the Railways. This was brought to the notice of the Railways and they have issued a clarification on 3-2-12. In the clarification, they say that at this location, the railway boundary on the western side varies from 30 feet to 63 feet from the centre of the railway track. Any construction within 30 meters (98 feet) of the railway property needs a "No Objection" certificate from the railways. So nothing can be built within 128 feet (this could be as high as 161 feet) from the centre of the railway track without an NOC from the railways.

The railways have also said that they have alrady taken action against the illegal construction that was going on. Levelling of the ground and uprooting of the trees have been stopped. Painted stones has been placed to clearly demarcate the railway boundary. Frequent inspection is being carried out to prevent encroachment.

We thank the railways for taking prompt action on the matter.

B.V. Shenoy, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Photos from the January 2012 edition of Grahaka Patrike

2012-02-01T07:29:00.000-08:00

(Vishwas Krishna)

The dais at the National Consumer Day (24-12-11) celebrated by MGP and the Institute of Engineers, Mysore Local Chapter. MGP members Sreemathi Hariprasad (1st from left), H.R. Bapu Satyanarayana (4th from left), Prof. R. Chandra Prakash (5th from left) and Dr. T.N. Manjunath (6th from left).

(B.V.Shenoy)

More than 100 persons participated in the World Consumer Day celebrations on

Vasanthkumar Mysoremath of MGP was the main speaker at the environment awareness programme held recently at Madapura.

A prestigious builder promised a swimming pool at an apartment building in J.P.Nagar. What was actually built was a kids playpool. The tenants are now suing the builder for misleading advertisement.

MCC violating government order once again

2012-01-29T07:08:00.000-08:00

MGP had recently issued a press statement highlighting the violation of a Government Order by Mysore City Corporation.This referred to the Karnataka State Government 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. Despite this GO and numerous reminders from the fire department, MCC has continued to allow high-rise buildings without the required NOC from the fire department.

Now another violation of a government notification has come to our notice. According to Sec. 827 of the Indian Railways Works Manual, any building constructed within 30 meters (about 100 feet) from a railway line by either private parties or municipal authorities must obtain a No Objection Certificate from the railways before construction. The purpose of this restriction is obvious. It is to conserve adjacent lands to meet future development needs of the railways (such as double tracking, electrification, etc.). Construction in this corridor makes acquisition of the land very difficult if structures exist in the corridor. Understanding this necessity of the Railways, the Government of Karnataka has issued an order No. HUD 128 GEL 84 (dated 20-10-1984) to all the local bodies in Karnataka that NOC from the Railways is mandatory for any construction in the 60 m wide corridor through which a railway line passes.

But MCC is levelling the land in Yadavagiri next to the Arasikere Railway line to construct some buildings supposedly under the JNNURM project. This land is within 30 m of the railway line and despite the nearby residents raising legal objections, work seems to be going on without getting an NOC from the Railways. Why is MCC so bent on violating the Government notification? Why are the Railways keeping quiet?

B.V. Shenoy, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Lawyers' strike: is it legal?

2012-01-27T08:45:00.000-08:00

Lawyers are striking work and boycotting courts frequently these days, mostly alleging injustice to one of their colleagues. At first, the boycotts were limited to the cities in which the injustice allegedly occurred, but now, lawyers all over the state are boycotting the courts about an incident that took place in Bengaluru. The day may not be far off when there will be nationwide strikes when a lawyer in manhandles by someone.

Lawyers' strikes are not only paralyzing our judicial system, but also, many a time paralyzing every day life by blocking roads and other essential services. Many people are interested in knowing what the laws and the courts say about such strikes.

All lawyers in India are bound by the Advocates Act, 1961. Under Sec. 49(1)(c) of the this Act, the Bar Council of India has framed rules governing the conduct of advocates. Various High Courts and the Supreme Court have repeatedly interpreted these rules to completely ban strikes by advocates. In one judgment ((2003) 2 SCC 45), the Supreme Court said that the lawyers can ventilate their grievances by giving press statements, TV interviews, carrying banners or placards, wearing black bands, holding peaceful protest marches, dharnas or relay fasts, etc. (all these outside the court premises), but not by striking work and abstaining from courts. In another judgment ((1999) 1 SCC 37), the Supreme Court held that if any lawyer does not want to appear in a particular court, he should return the briefs of his clients so that they can engage another lawyer. But retaining the brief of his client and at the same time abstaining from appearing in a court is unprofessional as unbecoming of the status of an advocate.

Lawyers have often argued that they have a right to strike as guaranteed by Article 19 of the Constitution (Freedom of Speech). But the courts have held that a litigant has a fundamental right for a speedy trial of his case as guaranteed by Article 21 (Protection of Life and Personal Liberty) of the Constitution. A strike by lawyers will infringe this fundamental right of the litigants and such infringement cannot be permitted. The exercise of the right under Article 19 comes to an end when such exercise threatens the fundamental right of another, the courts have said.

Since the litigant has a fundamental right to a speedy trial, it automatically follows that the courts are bound to conduct hearings and pass orders even when lawyers for both sides are absent because of a strike. In a judgment ((1998) 8 SCC 624), the Supreme Court has held that courts should conduct hearings in such a situation as otherwise it would amount to the courts participating in the strike. It is not known how many courts follow this order of the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court has also ruled against enforcing Bandhs or Rasta Rokos during a strike. In a judgment (AIR 1998 SC 184), it has said that the fundamental rights of the people as a whole cannot be subservient to the claim of fundamental right of a section of the people. Therefore, there cannot be any right to call a Bandh which interferes with the fundamental freedoms of other citizens.

If a lawyer who works for a fee does not appear at the hearing because of a strike or a boycott, he or she can be prosecuted in a consumer forum for deficiency of service, according to a judgment of the National Consumer Grievances Redressal Commission (II (2002) CPJ 118 (NC)). In this judgment, the National Commission has also ordered that the Consumer Fora should not give adjournments for lawyer strikes.

In its order, the National Commission observed, "Strike is a virus which should not be allowed to infect the Fora constituted under the Consumer Protection Act. It should never be ground for adjournment in a Forum that the lawyers are on strike....We have to guard ourselves against the pernicious practice of strike by lawyers spreading to the Fora under the Act. Nonappearance of a lawyer in a court or tribunal or any Authority after being engaged and having charged his fee could itself be deficiency on his part. There is already a public criticism that Fora under the Act are fast becoming Civil Courts where adjournments are granted as matter of course. This should not be permitted, otherwise the purpose of the Act will be lost. State Commissions should ensure that no adjournment is granted on the ground of strike by lawyers. If the lawyers do not appear before the District Forum or State Commission, it can decide the matter on the basis of the record, if it so chooses. A request for adjournment on the ground of strike by lawyers is not justifiable ground for adjourning the matter."

V.Mahesha, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

ATM machines - what you should know

2012-01-02T08:30:00.000-08:00

Since their inception five decades ago, ATMs (Automated Teller Machines) have rapidly proliferated worldwide. In India also, they are spreading at breakneck speed. The public seem to prefer ATM transactions to credit cards since they are less risky and do not involve the payment of interest.

Customer complaints about ATMs are also increasing rapidly. They include non-disbursal of cash and excessive debit from the customer's account. When a customer encounters such a problem, very often he does not know how to get it redressed.

The following are the Reserve Bank of India guidelines regarding ATMs (available at their website).

1. Customer Charges:
a. For use of own ATMs for any purpose - Free
b. For use of other bank ATMs for any purpose - Five transactions per month free.
After 5 free transactions, typical fees are Rs. 20 per financial transaction and Rs. 10 per non-financial transaction (such as checking account balance).
c. For cash withdrawals using credit cards - Fee can be charged. (Typically, the fee is equivalent to 25-35% annual interest.)

2. Security Measures:

The machine should not respond unless Personal Identification Number is entered separately for each transaction. So even if a customer forgets his card at the ATM, the next person will not be able to misuse it.

3.Resolution of customer complaints:

a. Banks have to resolve customer complaints within 7 working days from the date of receipt of the complaint.

b. If the complaint is lodged within 30 days of the date of transaction and the bank does not resolve it within 7 days from the date of lodging the complaint, it has to pay the customer Rs. 100 for each day of delay.

The RBI also requires all ATMs to be user-friendly for persons with disabilities. The ATMs should be provided with ramps and their height should be such that they are accessible to wheelchair users. At least one third of new ATMs installed should be talking ATMs with Braille keypads which can be used by visually impaired persons.

Any customer who faces any problem at an ATM should immediately complain to the bank which issued the ATM card to him/her and the bank which operates the ATM. If the problem is not resolved, he/she can approach the consumer courts against the deficieny in service.

Pooja Kini, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

State Information Commission hearings

2011-12-31T20:59:00.000-08:00

Complaints about violations of the Right to Information Act from Mysore district were heard by the Karnataka Information Commission on 19-12-11. The hearings were conducted via teleconferencing, with the two opposing parties sitting at the DC's Office, Mysore and the State Chief Information Commissioner at his office in Bangalore. These are my experiences at the hearings.

Notices had been issued to the complainants and defendants to be present at the teleconferencing room at the DC's office at 10 AM. But at 10 AM, only two complainants and two defendants were present. The video operator came at 10.05 and started setting up the call to Bangalore. At 10.15 the Mysore City Commissioner came and the DC came at 10.30. The telelink to Bangalore was established at 10.30 but the SCIC had not come. At 10.45, most of the complainants and the defendants had assembled and the room was full. At 10.55 a message was received from Bangalore that the hearings would start at 11.15. The SCIC came on the screen at 11.22, said that he was held up by traffic and apologized for the delay in the start of the proceedings. The hearings finally started at 11.24.

Most of the complainants were rural people who had not received the information they had sought from village or taluk level information officers. It appeared that most of these officers who were attending the hearings were not at all well-prepared. Many had come without the concerned files and "I am new to this job" and "The file is missing" were common answers to the SCIC's questions. The SCIC was so exasperated at one point that he remarked "No one is telling the truth!"

The lack of preparation by the information officers may be related to the fact that the Information Commissions are reluctant to punish the errant officers. In the present hearings, there were only a couple of cases in which the information had been supplied within one month (the period specified by the RTI Act), but in the 30 odd other cases in which the information had not been supplied within the prescribed time limit, the SCIC imposed a punishment only once.

According to the RTI Act, if the information officer does not provide the information in 30 days, the applicant should first appeal to the appellate authority (who is usually the head of the government institution where the information is sought) and if the information is still not forthcoming, he should appeal to the Information Commission. So if a complaint is filed before the Information Commission, it means that both the information officer and the appellate authority have not done their job. But the RTI act prescribes punishment only to the information officers and none to the appellate authorities. This is not right.

But there seems to be a way around this shortcoming of the law. According to Sec. 19(8)(b) of the Act, the Commission can require the public authority to compensate the complainant for any loss or other detriment suffered. Combining this provision of the law with the order of the Supreme Court (III(1993) CPJ 7 (SC)) which says that when a government department is fined for deficiency in service, the official responsible for the deficiency must be personally held liable for the fine, the Information Commissions can punish the appellate authority also for dereliction of duty.

One problem with the teleconference hearings was that the SCIC could not hear clearly what the parties were saying. This was because the microphone was at the head of the table and the seats just behind the microphone were occupied by the DC and MCC Commissioner and the parties had to take seats to one side. When the parties were looking at the screen to see the SCIC, their voices were not being picked up by the microphone. This problem can be easily solved by seating the parties themselves at the head of the table.

The inability of the SCIC to hear the parties clearly led to at least one unfair decision, in which the SCIC ordered that the complainant should pay the required page fees to obtain the information. This information had not been supplied to the complainant within 30 days of his application and so according to Sec. 7(6) of the RTI Act, the page charges have to be waived. The complainant was arguing this point, but obviously the SCIC did not hear him and passed the order for the payment of page charges.

Surya Prakash, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

MGP conducts lecture-demo on food adulteration

2011-12-31T20:40:00.000-08:00

Mysore Grahakara Parishat recently conducted a lecture-demonstration on food adulteration detection at the following places:

Government Higher Primary School, Bhagamandala, Government Higher Primary School, Murnadu, Government High School, Napoklu, Morarji Residential School, Basavanahalli, Government High School, Kodagarahalli, Rotary High School, Kushalanagar, Government Higher Primary School, Hakattur, K.Puttaswamy P.U. College, Vijayanagar, Government High School, Hinkal, Government High School Nizamia, Lashkar Mohalla, Chinmaya Vidyalaya P.U. College, Jayalakshmipuram and Gopalaswamy P.U. College, Nanju Malige.

Under the direction of C.V. Nagaraj (formerly Senior Chemist, Regional Agmark Laboratory, Bangalore), students themselves conducted simple tests to detect adulteration in various food items. C.V. Nagaraj also spoke about the harmful effects of various types of adulteration and on the laws that exist in India against food adulteration. Prof. S.K. Ananda Thirtha and D.V. Dayanand Sagar assisted.

Associations interested in arranging such lecture-demos can contact C.V.Nagaraj (Ph: 2521640).

Photos from December 2011 edition of Grahaka Patrike

2011-12-31T20:32:00.000-08:00

Uncleared building debris.

Sewage leaking from overhead pipes in the parking lot.

Walls of the parking lot stained by leaking sewage.

Densely packed two-wheelers in the parking lot.

What you should know about electricity security deposits

2011-12-15T08:02:00.000-08:00

According to Sec. 5.1 of the Security Deposit Regulations, 2007 issued by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission, domestic electricity consumers in Mysore are required to pay a Security Deposit to Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Company. This security deposit is two times (the cost of 45 units plus the fixed charge).

According to Interest on Security Deposit Regulations, 2005 issued by KERC, CESC should pay interest on this deposit at the bank rate as on April 1. This annual interest should be credited to the consumer before the end of June. The details of the deposit and the interest paid should be given to the consumers along with the bill in the month in which the interest is adjusted. An excess amount being held as deposit must be refunded to the consumer.

Let us look at a typical domestic consumer with a sanctioned load of 2.5 kW. After the recent revision of electricity tariffs, the monthly fixed charge is Rs. 25 for the first kW of the sanctioned load plus Rs. 35 for each additional kW of sanctioned load. So the fixed charge for a sanctioned load of 2.5 kW is Rs. 77.50. Now, the the cost of electricity is Rs. 2.20/unit (upto 30 units) and Rs. 3.40/unit (for 31-100 units). and so the cost of 45 units is 30x2.20 + 15x3.40 = 117. So the Security Deposit is 2x(117+77.50)=389 Rs. Since the bank rate was 6% on April 1, 2011, CESC should have credited 389x0.06 = 23 Rs. into the consumer's account in his June electricity bill. Note that the deposit amount and the interest on it could be lower in the June, 2011 bill, since the fixed charges and electricity rates were lower then.

In all the electricity bills we have checked, CESC has credited the interest on the Security Deposit in the June electricity bill. But it has not given the amount held by it as deposit, which is violative of the Interest on Security Deposit Regulations, 2005.

Consumers are advised to check their June electricity bills to make sure that the interest on the deposit is being credited to their account. They should also make sure that CESC is not holding an excess amount as deposit and are paying the correct rate of interest. CESC and its predecessors, MESCOM and KEB have collected various amounts at various times as deposits,additional deposits, etc. and CESC may not have a full record of exactly how much amount they are holding as deposit. So, if the consumers have proof of what they have paid in the past, they should make sure that the entire amount is entered into CESC registers.

Prof. S.Sekhar, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Poorly Designed Suburban Bus Stand

2011-12-06T11:25:00.001-08:00

The suburban bus stand of Mysore on Bangalore Nilgiri Road has been upgraded at a cost of Rs. 30 crores under JNNURM. MGP has received complaints from the public about the poor conditions prevailing in this expensive bus stand. These conditions appear to be a consequence of numerous defects in the planning, design, execution and maintenance of the facility. It is a matter of concern that the central bus stand which was also upgraded recently at enormous expense under JNNURM also suffers from defects in the planning, design, execution and maintenance. Here are some of the problems faced by the public in the suburban bus stand.

PARKING

It appears that the basement parking can hold about 30 cars and several hundred two-wheelers. Even now, it normally appears full. But, most of the commercial establishments scheduled to come up in the new building have not started operation and when they start working and their customers start coming in, there will be no parking space for their vehicles. This shows a lack of proper planning.

leaking sewage water at underground parking

Due to poor design and execution, raw sewage from overhead pipes is leaking in several places in the basement parking, soiling both people and their vehicles. This is disgusting. The walls are stained by leaking sewage and there are puddles of sewage water in several places. The public and their vehicles have to wade through this muck. The bus stand was touted to be "world class" and this is certainly not what is expected in a world class facility.

The lighting in the underground parking area is very weak It appears that there is no backup generator and so when there is a power shutdown, the whole place goes pitch dark. It is hard to imagine how the public can park their vehicles or get them out in such a situation. This is poor execution and poor maintenance.

Since the whole parking lot is damp and dark, there are mosquitoes all the time. Persons manning the parking lot must be going through hell every day.

storm water drains clogged with debris

The storm water drains (at the entrances of the parking lot) which are supposed to prevent rain water from entering the underground parking space are clogged with debris and hence are not doing their job. We have received complaints that during rains, there is flooding in the parking lot.

the missing "Cloak Room"

There are no proper directions to the parking lot from the passenger platform. The sign says "Cloak Room" and leads to the parking lot!

BUS BAYS

"Extended" bus bays

Since buses back into the stand to pick up passengers, about 6 feet at the edge of the passenger platform should have been cordoned off from the public. But it has not been done. As a result of this poor design, there is the distinct possibility that unwary persons standing or walking in this area can be hit by a bus backing into position.

useless raised passenger platforms espcially when it rains

The raised passenger platform projects 8-10 feet out to enable passengers to board the bus from its back entrance. But all the new buses have entrances only in the front. So the purpose of providing this projection is defeated. This is poor design.

The same is true for the roof overhang. If the roof had covered the entire length of the bus, passengers could enter the bus even in heavy rain without getting wet. Now it is not possible. With very little effort, boarding passengers and baggage could have been protected from sun and rain. This again is poor design.

not even a single drain was visible in the entire area

We did not see any drains to remove rain water in the vast area in which the buses stand. Unless perfect camber has been provided, pools of water will form during rains.

BUS ENTRANCE

buses parked haphazardly

Incoming buses stop near the entry to the bus stand disgorging passengers. This is a scene of chaos. Some buses are parked helter-skelter three abreast, passengers are getting down and scooting between other moving buses. It is a wonder people are not run down regularly. Once again, this is not a good design.

uneven surface near one of the entrances

Both the road and the footpaths near the bus inlet are in bad condition with uneven surface and debris. This is again poor execution and maintenance.

STAIRS AND HANDICAPPED ACCESS

There are several needless stairs. Instead of keeping them at the same level as the passenger platform, the ticket counters have been placed a couple of feet higher leading to needless stairs.

stairs to....err.. nowhere!

There are also stairs leading to nowhere! Obviously these stairs led to some place, but the building plan must have changed and now there is a wall at the head of the stairs. This is poor planning indeed.

useless ramps

Ramps have been provided at some places, but as seen in the above photo, there is no ramp from the footpath to the road! Such ramps pay mere lip service to the Persons With Disabilities Act, 1995 and violate the spirit of the law.

LEGALITY OF SHOPPING CENTRE

The land on which the moffusil bus stand has been built is classified as "Traffic and Transportation" in the Revised Comprehensive Development Plan, 2011 for Mysore. According to zoning regulations, only bus stands and parking can be provided in such a zone and canteens and banking counters (not exceeding 5% of the total area) can be provided with special permission. There is no provision for shops in a Traffic and Transportation zone. Shops have existed for several years next to the Bangalore section of the bus stand and now more shops and restaurants are coming up. Is this not a violation of the zoning regulations?

The detailed project report for the bus stand, available here (pdf), says "Given the location of the proposed bus terminal and the real estate scenario in the moffusil bus stand, large scale leveraging of the site is possible". It appears that making money has taken precedence over providing quality service to the public. Providing an unnecessary shopping complex has become more important than providing decent parking and safe platforms.

Vishwas Krishna, MGP

Kudos to officials

2011-11-29T08:30:00.000-08:00

There is widespread feeling among the public that the government does not respond to their complaints. While this may be true in general, there are many officials certainly who do act upon public complaints. Here are three examples. MGP's complaint about these problems were carried in the local media and the concerned officials have promptly rectified the situation

The bus stand on JLB Road near RTO Circle was dilapidated and ready to collapse any moment. After MGP complained in July, 2011, concerned officials have demolished the bus stand and prevented a potential catastrophe.

The bus stand near Nirmala Convent in V.V. Puram had no seats for a long time.After MGP complained in September, 2011, concerned officials have provided seats for the public.

The road hump on KRS road near CFTRI gate was too high and was causing accidents. After MGP complained in September, 2011, concerned officials have reduced the height of the hump.

We thank these officials.

D.V. Dayanand Sagar, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Photos from the November 2011 issue of Grahaka Patrike

2011-11-28T19:04:00.001-08:00

(D.V.Dayanand Sagar)

The bus stand on JLB Road near RTO Circle was dilapidated and ready to collapse any moment. After GRAHAKA PATRIKE published a photo of this dangerous bus stop (August, 2011) concerned officials have demolished the bus stand and prevented a potential catastrophe.

(D.V.Dayanand Sagar)

The bus stand near Nirmala Convent in V.V. Puram had no seats for a long time.After GRAHAKA PATRIKE published a photo of this bus stop (October, 2011) concerned officials have provided seats for the public.

(D.V.Dayanand Sagar)

The road hump on KRS road near CFTRI gate was too high and was causing accidents. After GRAHAKA PATRIKE published a photo of this dangerous road hump (October, 2011) concerned officials have reduced the height of the hump.

(B.V. Shenoy)

The transformer on Pulikeshi Road (near FTS Circle) has two of its supporting poles on the road itself. This is obstructing both traffic and pedestrians.

Dr. S.L. Bhyrappa who has been a member of MGP since 1992 has won Saraswati Samman for his novel "Mandra". It is the most prestigious literary award in India.

MUDA Is Still Violating Supreme Court Order

2011-11-22T21:08:00.001-08:00

MGP issued a press release recently stating that GPA sale of sites has been declared illegal by the Supreme Court in a judgment given on 11-10-11, but MUDA is still permitting such sales. In response,MUDA has issued a statement justifying its actions. MUDA says that it is only transferring sites to buyers on GPAs registered before 1-1-08. By transferring sites to buyers only on GPAs registered after 1-1-08, it seems to imply that it is in consonance with the Supreme Court ruling.

We beg to disagree. The Supreme Court is clear that all GPA sales are illegal. Therefore, MUDA SHOULD NOT BE TRANSFERRING SITES TO BUYERS MERELY ON THE BASIS OF A GPA, NO MATTER WHEN IT WAS REGISTERED. IT SHOULD DO SO ONLY ON THE BASIS OF A REGISTERED SALE DEED. We draw attention to the relevant passages in paras 16-18 of the Supreme Court judgment.

"16. We therefore reiterate that immovable property can be legally and lawfully transferred/conveyed only by a registered deed of conveyance. Transactions of the nature of 'GPA sales' or 'SA/GPA/WILL transfers' do not convey title and do not amount to transfer, nor can they be recognized or valid mode of transfer of immoveable property...Such transactions cannot be relied upon or made the basis for mutations in municipal or revenue records. What is stated above will apply not only to deeds of conveyance in regard to freehold property but also to transfer of leasehold property. A lease can be validly transferred only under a registered Assignment of Lease. It is time that an end is put to the pernicious practice of SA/GPA/WILL transactions known as GPA sales.

17. It has been submitted that making declaration that GPA sales and SA/GPA/WILL transfers are not legally valid modes of transfer is likely to create hardship to a large number of personswho have entered into such transactions and they should be given sufficient time to regularize the transactions by obtaining deeds of conveyance. It is also submitted that this decision should be made applicable prospectively to avoid hardship.

18. We have merely drawn attention to and reiterated the well-settled legal position that SA/GPA/WILL transactions are not 'transfers' or 'sales' and that such transactions cannot be treated as completed transfers or conveyances. They can continue to be treated as existing agreement of sale. Nothing prevents affected parties from getting registered Deeds of Conveyance to complete their title... If they are entered before this day, they may be relied upon to apply for regularization of allotments/leases by Development Authorities."

P.M. Bhat, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

MUDA Is Once Again Misleading!

2011-11-19T21:40:00.001-08:00

We read with interest the reply given by MUDA to the local media concerning our recent press release on the MUDA notification calling for applications from the public for allotment of sites in Lalitadri Nagar, R.T. Nagar and Chamalapura. MUDA claims this reply clarifies the points raised in our press release. It also implies that our complaints are baseless. We take exception to both these statements.

In its "clarification", MUDA has not answered any of the points raised by us or gives misleading answers to our points. To make this claim clear, we reproduce our points and MUDA's "clarifications".

1. The announcement does not commit to any specific dates for allotment of sites or for refund of the initial deposit to non-allottees. Since it states that the initial deposit will not earn any interest, it is easy to infer the intentions of MUDA. Huge sums of public money will earn interest to MUDA at the expense of the public.

To this objection, MUDA has answered that "After the completion of the allotment process, the EMD amount of unsuccessful aspirants will be returned soon." It also says that "the accusation that MUDA has been reaping benefit out of the interest on crores of rupees of money collected from the site aspirants is baseless".

Even in this "clarification", MUDA does not commit to any return date for the deposits (other than "soon"). It also does not refute the point that it will not pay interest on the deposit. The refusal to pay interest will earn huge amounts for MUDA. It has been reported that about 100,000 applications have been received by MUDA for the three layouts. Assuming that the average cost of a site is Rs. 3 lakhs, each applicant would have paid a deposit of Rs. 30,000. So MUDA has collected Rs. 300 crores in deposits and even if it returns them after one year, it would have earned RS. 30 CRORES as interest on the deposits.

2. The guideline paper issued along with the application form does not show any map of the place and the extent of the readiness of the sites, roads,ÿelectricity, water and UGD lines, etc. So the public have no way of knowing when the sites will be ready.

MUDA has chosen not to reply to this point.

3. Item 17 of the rules and regulations states that allotment at R.T.Nagar will be considered for only those who have applied for both R.T.Nagar and Lalitadri Nagar. Therefore, people who want sites at R.T.Nagar will have to apply for both places with separate ÿinitial deposits. So MUDA gets double the deposit it would otherwise have gotten. This appears to be an unfair trade practice.

In its "clarification", MUDA says "...the applicants who have made the maximum number of attempts, have voluntarily applied separately for R.T.Nagar and Lalithadrinagar Layouts and remitted the appropriate EMD."

When Item 17 of the rules and regulations states that allotment at R.T.Nagar will be considered for only those who have applied for both R.T.Nagar and Lalithadri Nagar, applicants for R.T. Nagar have to compulosily apply for both R.T. Nagar and Lalithadrinagar. Why is MUDA misleading the public saying that they are "voluntarily" applying separately?

4. An affidavit form has been given, but there are no instructions that it should be submitted on stamp paper (I was told orally that it should be on Rs. 20 stamp paper) and notarized. Omitting the stamp paper and not notarizing the affidavit may itself become a reason for rejection of application!

5. The affidavit asks the applicant to affirm "I and my family members are residing at the above address and it is a rented house and I am paying a monthly rent of Rs......" What if a person is not paying any rent but otherwise is eligible for allotment of site under MUDA?

6. It is required that the Domicile Certificate should be signed by an "Administrative officer with seal". Can any administrative officer of any organization sign it? Getting it signed by any administrative officer may again itself become a reason for rejection of application!

MUDA has not answered these last three points.As we have said in our original press release, MUDA being a statutory body, should be more responsible.

Its clarifications are seem to be as misleading as its original announcement for site applications! In addition, MUDA does not give details of what quality of infrastructure (roads, footpaths, storm water drains, electricity, water, UGD, etc.) it is providing. It is supposed to provide good quality infrastructure before selling the sites, but in many cases, it does not provide the infrastructure many years later, when it is ready to hand over the layout to MCC.

Prof. B.S. Shankara, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Monthly MGP Meeting

2011-11-11T04:57:00.001-08:00

Mysore Grahakara Parishat will hold its monthly meeting on SundayNovember 13 at 4.00 PM at 6/1 Vivekananda Road, Yadavagiri. With Mysorecity drowning in garbage despite several initiatives of MCC, one of thetopics to be discussed will be citizen's role in solving the garbageproblem. It is always easy to criticize the officials and politiciansfor garbage problem. But there is equal responsibility on the part ofthe citizens also.

Karnataka Government has taken a new initiative to help the citizens bydeciding to promulgate an ordinance to implement the KarnatakaGuarantee of Services to Citizens Act, 2011. Under this act any officerwho fails to render services within stipulated time will have to payfine. On paper this sounds great as did several other acts likeConsumer Protection Act, Right to Information Act, Right to EducationAct etc. For consumers to get the best use of such acts, we need to beever vigilant. During the meeting MGP plans to discuss how Mysoreanscan prepare to get maximum benefits out of such an act.

For more information please call MGP at 2515150
Dr. Bhamy V. Shenoy

Autos taking Mysoreans for a ride

2011-10-30T23:20:00.000-07:00

It was in 2008, SOM had published my detailed article titled Woes of Auto Consumers (see below). It had discussed both the problems faced by auto consumers as well as the terrible problems of auto drivers in earning enough to meet their daily requirements. It will not come as a surprise to any one if the concerned authorities or political leadership has failed to take steps to solve this consumer problem which has been affecting most Mysoreans.

At that time there were about 17000 registered autos in the city. In addition there were thousands of unregistered autos. During the last four years, number of autos serving Mysore must have gone up considerably. With that problems faced by auto consumers have also gone up. While prepaid taxi services at the bus stand and railway station has certainly helped the consumers, for others it is nightmare to ride auto.

As a regular user of autos, I have the first hand experience of getting cheated by them. Even for less than the minimum distance they demand Rs. 20 because petrol price has gone up. Actually most if not all autos run now on LPG whose price if any thing has remained more or less the same or has gone up only marginally. This is because the auto LPG price fluctuate with the international crude oil price whereas petrol price was liberalized since 18 months.

Many autos refuse to start the meter. The standard reply is that the meter is not working or it has just broken. If they happen to use the meter, more than likely it would have been deliberately set to jump.

Now that we have a campaign to fight corruption in our city, can we takesteps to eliminate or at least reduce corruption in the auto rickshaw sector? Autos cheat the consumers because they are unable to earn enough. This is because there are a number of unregistered autos. Why cant the concerned authorities take steps to stop this menace? I have been told that when an unregistered auto is caught he pays a fine of Rs 100 which of course is passed on to consumers. We do not know how much mamul they have to pay in addition. When autos go for registration or meter calibration, no work will get done without paying a bribe. This again is collected finally from the consumers.

Unless we ensure that most auto drivers can earn enough for their living as suggested above, woes of auto consumers will only get worse.

Woes of Auto Consumers.
Bhamy V. Shenoy, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

In our city, it will be very difficult to find one auto whose meter is working properly. It is equally difficult to find any auto consumer who feels he or she has not been cheated excepting when prepaid autos are used at bus and railway stations. This is a statement based on my personal experience. I use auto often and have bitter experience of being cheated by most of them. However there are rare cases, they accept the right fare when I complain to them about faulty meter, show my knowledge of the actual distance traveled and my association with MGP.
I have a lot of sympathy for the auto drivers. I suspect many of them are not able to earn subsistence living even after putting many hours. They are forced by our cruel and corrupt system to pay bribe to authorities (mostly police according to them) despite their poor earnings. Some of them may even belong to below poverty level category. But this does not give them the right to cheat the consumers and also abuse us. Every day battles are fought with the auto drivers as customers alight at their destination in every part of the city. This is very unfortunate and should be avoided. Today auto travel has become a nightmare. As a result I have been now travelling by public transportation whenever it is possible.
To throw more light on this problem, I have attempted to compute the economics of auto drivers (see table). I had to make many educated estimates even after collecting information from a group of auto drivers. Still the results may fairly represent the economic problems faced by auto drivers.
My computations show that a typical auto driver making six daily trips of average 5 kilometers (total paid distance traveled of 30 Kms) using LPG at official price of Rs. 350 per 5.5 KG tank can earn Rs 1959 per month. His monthly income will fall to Rs. 1465 if he has to use petrol. This income though above the BPL, is not enough for a family of four. However if an auto driver makes trips for just 50 kilometers then his monthly income after all expenses will be Rs 5559 and Rs 4672 for LPG and petrol fueled vehicles respectively. With more than 15600 registered and several thousands unregistered autos in the city, not many drivers will be lucky to get enough trips to cover daily distance of 50 kms. Even at lower number of trips, amount of revenues generated in auto sector is more than Rs 28 laks per day.
A critical study of auto sector mirrors many corruption problems faced by our society. Since driving an auto does not require much skill, even unemployable college graduates are attracted towards this sector. It is easy to get bank financing for auto purchases. However when an auto driver finds that he is unable to make both ends meet, he starts to break the laws. He tampers with the meters to collect higher fare. He is unable to maintain his auto in good condition. Since he knows he is breaking the law or not in compliance with the vehicle rules, police and RTO are able to collect their mamuls from them.
Instead of using petrol, he uses subsidized kerosene to blend with petrol to operate his autos. He also has access to the so called MS petrol which is cheaper despite knowing it is illegal. The difference between auto LPG and residential LPG is so huge (Rs 31.82 versus 10.55 per liter) that many autos run on LPG allocated for residential use. This creates an LPG shortage for residential consumers. Auto sector is one where LPG dealers can make a killing by diverting their allotted residential LPG.
Mysore Grahakara Parishat has asked the metrology department in Deputy Commissioners office to do a random check of autos to detect meter tampering. Of course this is a hopeless task since most have tampered meters today. Still if auto drivers know that there will be an inspection and heavy penalty will be imposed if found guilty, things could improve.
Another alternative is for Police/RTO/DCs office to publish a booklet giving distances between important places. Third alternative is to force the autos to change over to digital meters with distances when time comes for replacement. All these strategies will be of little use, unless we as a society study the basic problem to help the auto drivers to earn enough money to make both ends meet. Now who should take this lead? Unfortunately officials in charge do not seem to have any concern about this issue. It is also equally the fault of consumers that we have failed to contact the officials with our grievances. Just increasing the fare will not solve the problem.

Bhamy V Shenoy, MGP

Photos from the October 2011 issue of Grahaka Patrike

2011-10-29T23:31:00.000-07:00

(Vasanthkumar Mysoremath)

A delegation of PhD students from Europe, Africa and Asia visited MGP office recently and discussed various social issues with MGP members

(D.V.Dayanand Sagar)

Senior members of MGP, Dr. H.A.B. Parpia (3rd from left), H.R. Bapu Satyanarayana (4th from left) and Maj. Gen. (Rtd.) S.G. Vombatkere (1st from right) presented a memorandum to the Mayor of Mysore Smt. Pushpalatha Chikkanna to declare Mysore a GMO-free (GMO=Genetically Modified Organisms) city.

(B.V.Shenoy)

The dais at the 22nd Annual General Body meeting of MGP held on 24-9-11 at The Paradise hotel in Yadavagiri.

(B.V.Shenoy)

The audience at the 22nd Annual General Body meeting of MGP

(B.V.Shenoy)

Members enjoying refreshments after the 22nd Annual General Body meeting of MGP.

Poor planning by government causes suffering for the public

2011-10-29T02:26:00.000-07:00

To renovate the old building occupied by the Mysore subregistars' offices, they were shifted in 2003 to a private building (Madhwesha Complex) on Male Mahadeshwara road. MGP strongly complained that the proposed building is unsuitable on several counts, one of which was that the office was on the second floor and access to the aged and the infirm was very difficult. The then Registrar Mr. M. Basavaraj and the Headquarters sub-registrar, Mr. H. Jaleel took these complaints seriously and removed most of the deficiencies within a year. A lift was provided and it proved a boon to the elderly. Separate toilets for ladies and gentlemen, drinking water, ample sitting accommodation for the public, spacious offices for the sud-registrars, ample parking for cars, etc. were provided.

Now the old building has been renovated, but as usual with government undertakings, the expansion was not well-planned and there is not enough space in the new building for both the subregistrars' offices. As a result, only the Mysore North subregistrar's office is being shifted back and Mysore South subregistrar's office will continue to operate from Madhwesha complex. The lift has broken down and due to discord between tenants and landlord, it has not been repaired. This makes access to the aged and the infirm very difficult. With no other option, MGP has now written to the Inspector General of Registration, Bangalore to intercede and rectify this problem.

A.M. Subba Rao, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Why is MUDA promoting illegal GPA sale of sites?

2011-10-21T20:35:00.000-07:00

MUDA is regularly placing advertisements in local newspapers announcing the sale of MUDA-allotted sites through General Power of Attorney. The advertisements state that if no objections are received within 15 days, MUDA will transfer the site to the buyer.

But in a historic judgment (pdf) given on 11-10-2011, a three-man bench of the Supreme Court (Justices R.V. Raveendran, A.K. Patnaik and H.L. Gokhale) has outlawed GPA sale of sites allotted by Urban Development Authorities. As the Supreme Court observed in its judgment, the purpose of GPA Sales is to avoid stamp duty and registration charges, avoid payment of capital gains, invest black money, avoid any public record of transactions, enable persons to hold any number of properties without disclosing them as assets held and avoid payment of 'unearned increases' due to Development Authorities on transfer. Persons who deal in real estate resort to these methods to increase their profit margin, the Supreme Court noted.

As the Supreme Court observed, GPA sales adversely affect the economy, civil society and law and order. Firstly, it enables large scale evasion of income tax, wealth tax, stamp duty and registration fees thereby denying the benefit of such revenue to the government and the public. Secondly, such transactions enable persons to invest their black money profitably, thereby encouraging circulation of black money and corruption. The Court also noted many serious side-effects of GPA sales. When the market value increases, many vendors (who effected power of attorney sales without registration) are tempted to resell the property taking advantage of the fact that there is no registered instrument or record in any public office thereby cheating the purchaser. The purchaser then tries to take the help of musclemen to 'sort out' the issue and protect his rights. On the other hand, real estate mafia often purchase properties which are already subject to power of attorney sale and then threaten the previous 'Power of Attorney Sale' purchasers from asserting their rights. Either way, such power of attorney sales indirectly lead to growth of real estate mafia and criminalization of real estate transactions.

"It also makes title verification and certification of title, which is an integral part of orderly conduct of transactions relating to immovable property, difficult, if not impossible, giving nightmares to bonafide purchasers wanting to own a property with an assurance of good and marketable title", the Supreme Court said.

After having made these blistering observations on the GPA sale of sites, the Supreme Court went on to say "We therefore reiterate that immovable property can be legally and lawfully transferred/conveyed only by a registered deed of conveyance. Transactions of the nature of 'GPA sales' or 'Sale Agreement/GPA/Will transfers' do not convey title and do not amount to transfer, nor can they be recognized or valid mode of transfer of immoveable property."

Even before the Supreme Court decision, MUDA must have realized the illegal and criminal motives (listed above) behind GPA sales and must have prohibited them. But it did not do so. What is shocking is that even after explicit outlawing of GPA sales by the Supreme Court, MUDA is still publishing advertisements and promoting GPA sale of its sites.

P.M. Bhat, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Some Useful Information on LPG Cylinders

2011-10-19T08:56:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed the numbers painted on the inside of one of the three steel plates which connect an LPG cylinder to its handle ring? Have you wondered what they mean?

According to the Indian Oil Corporation website, all LPG cylinders have to be periodically tested to make sure that they are working properly. New cylinders are tested at the factory to make sure that they meet the standards specified in the Gas Cylinder Rules, 2004 and are released to the market. They are tested again after 10 years and every 5 years after this test. Cylinders which fail the test are withdrawn and destroyed. But when they pass such a test the date of the next test is painted on the inside of one of the three steel plates which connect an LPG cylinder to its handle ring. The date is represented by an alphabet and two numerals. The numerals refer to the year and the alphabets stand for January-March(A), April-June (B), July-September (C) and October-December (D). The code B12 shown in the photo means that the cylinder should be tested before June 2012.

The empty weight of the cylinder is also painted next to the date of the next test. It is 15.9 kg for the cylinder in the photo. Since the weight of domestic gas is 14.2 kg, this cylinder when it is delivered to a customer should weigh 30.1 kg. By weighing a new cylinder, a customer can make sure that he is not getting short-changed on the weight.

Supply of a cylinder past the period marked on it is a violation of Sec. 26 of the Gas Cylinder Rules, 2004. It should be reported to the Food & Civil Supplies Department (located in Deputy Commissioner's Office building) or to S. Krishna on 99459-02135 (call or SMS).

A frequently heard complaint is that water is being filled in LPG cylinders, thus cheating the consumers. We thought it was just a rumour, but then we came across a scientific study which appeared in the July 2006 issue of "Forensic Chemist" journal. This paper written by Mr. K.M. Varshney, Assistant Director of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Hyderabad, has found that in some cases, as much as 36% of the gas in the cylinder had been replaced by water. You can check whether there is water in your cylinder by weighing it when empty. If this weight is more than the weight painted on the cylinder, then the cylinder has water in it.

Asha Vombatkere, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

For How Long Should You Preserve Old Electricity Receipts?

2011-10-17T02:17:00.000-07:00

Many people are not clear about how long they should keep theirelectricity receipts. Many are worried that the electricity supplycompanies might bill them under "audit short claim" about powerconsumed several years earlier. A brief history of the legal positionon this issue is given here.

In a decision given in 1993 (III (1993) CPJ 381 (NC)), theNational Consumer Commission held that limitation period applies toelectricity bills and that the electricity supply company can not raisea bill for power consumed more than three years ago. So consumers donot have to pay audit short claims more than three years old and neednot preserve bill payment receipts for more than three years. TheSupreme Court, in a judgment given in 1997 (AIR 1997 SC 1101) agreedthat the supply companies can not make new demands on power consumedmore than three years ago, but it also said that electric companies candisconnect the supply for not clearing the arrears. As a result of thissurprising (and apparently self-contradicting) judgment, electricityconsumers had to preserve all their old receipts, because if theelectricity company claimed that you had not paid a bill 10 years ago,it could disconnect your supply unless you could prove that you hadactually paid it.

But the law governing electricity supply was changed in 2003 whenthe Electricity Act, 2003 came into effect. According to Sec 56(2) ofthe Act, "no sum due from any consumer, ... shall be recoverable afterthe period of two years from the date when such sum became first dueunless such sum has been shown continuously as recoverable as arrears ofcharges for electricity supplied and the licensee shall not cut off thesupply of the electricity."

Therefore, if your electricity bills are not showing anyoutstanding arrears, you need to keep the receipts only for a period oftwo years. The electricity supply company can not claim that you owemoney on a bill more than two two years ago and punish you for thenon-payment.

Dr.T.N. Manjunath, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Deceptive MUDA Announcement

2011-10-17T02:13:00.000-07:00

Recently MUDA (Mysore Urban Development Authority) called for applications from the public for allotment of sites in Lalitadri Nagar, R.T. Nagar and Chamalapura. The MUDA announcement is deceptive (whether unintentional or not) on several accounts.Notification link (pdf)

3. Item 17 of the rules and regulations states that allotment at R.T.Nagar will be considered for only those who have applied for both R.T.Nagar and Lalitadri Nagar. Therefore, people who want sites at R.T.Nagar will have to apply for both places with separate initial deposits. So MUDA gets double the deposit it would otherwise have gotten. This appears to be an unfair trade practice.

How can MUDA be so reckless in distributing sites? Statutory bodies such as MUDA need to be more responsible.

Prof. B.S. Shankara, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Statins are not Very Cost Effective

2011-10-15T08:48:00.000-07:00

The article on statins in the Health and Medicine column of Star Of Mysore (12-10-11) appears to paint a much rosier picture of statins than is warranted by published evidence. The article admits that there is questionable cost effectiveness when statins are used for primary prevention, but goes on to say that statins are effective in decreasing mortality in people with pre-existing cardiovascular disease since statins can cause upto 60% decrease in the number of cardiac events.

The clinical trial (Jupiter trial) which shows these results was a study of 18,000 people. The trial looked only at people who had low cholesterol and an elevated level of inflammation (as measured by CRP) and it looked only at the statin Crestor. The rate of heart attacks was 0.37% among patients who took a placebo and 0.17% among patients who took Crestor. So the study concluded that Crestor reduced heart attacks by 55%.

But a more careful analysis presented in the 31-3-10 issue of the prestigious daily New York Times shows that the benefit of Crestor is much less than it seems. The difference between the two groups translates to only 0.2 percentage points in absolute terms or 2 people out of 1,000. As N.Y. Times puts it, Stated another way, 500 people would need to be treated with Crestor for a year to avoid one usually survivableAt $3.50 a pill, the cost of prescribing Crestor to 500 people for a year would be $638,000 to prevent one heart attack. Spending Rs. 2.5 crores to prevent one usually survivable heart attack does not appear to be cost effective.

Recent studies have also found that use of statin may cause diabetes. A study published in the 27-2-2010 issue of the noted medical journal Lancet shows a 9% increased risk of diabetes for statin users.

C.V. Nagaraj, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Organic Farming Superior to Chemical Farming - New Study

2011-10-03T02:42:00.000-07:00

It is an accepted fact that, from the pollution point of view, organic farming is superior to chemical farming. But a recent study has found that organic farming is superior even from the viewpoints of economic viability and energy usage as well as other environmental points of view such as emission of greenhouse gases and ground water recharging. These findings are highly significant in light of the frequently repeated statements that organic farming is more expensive and that mankind can not be fed if all farmers adopted organic agriculture. The makers of agricultural policy in India have promoted this dogma for so long that the vast majority of Indian farmers seem to believe it. As a result, they have been caught in the vortex of increasing cost of fertilizers, pesticides, power and water and unable to come out, they are resorting in ever increasing numbers to bankruptcy and suicide. It is welcome that this study conducted by a renowned institution has proven that organic farming is more beneficial not just ecologically, but also economically.

Started in 1981, the Farming Systems Trial at Rodale Institute (Pennsylvania, USA) is one of the world's longest running, side-by-side comparison of organic and chemical agriculture (A study to compare ordinary crops and GM crops is going on for the last three years, but it is too early to come to any definite conclusions). It compares soybean and maize crops grown under three systems, organic manure, organic legume rotation and chemical. The major findings of the report on the completion of 30 years of trial are:

1.Soil health in the organic systems has increased over time while the chemical systems remain essentially unchanged. One measure of soil health is the amount of carbon contained in the soil. Carbon performs many crucial functions such as acting as a reservoir of plant nutrients, binding soil particles together, providing food source for beneficial microbes, binding heavy metals and pesticides, etc. Carbon increase was highest in the organic manure system, followed by the organic legume system. Instead of an increase, the chemical system has shown a loss in carbon in recent years. The organic fields also increased groundwater recharge and reduced runoff.

2. Over the thirty years of trials, the yields were the same in organic and chemical systems.

3. The organic systems used 45% less energy than the chemical systems.

4. Since the expenses are lower in the organic systems, the profits are higher. If one includes the prmium prices commanded by organic foods, the profits in organic systems were three times the profits in the chemical systems.

5. Crops grown in the organic systems emit only 70% of the greenhouse gases emitted by crops grown under the chemical systems.

6. Organically grown crops do not contain dangerous pesticide residues and so are better for human health.

Though the Rodale study reports that organic farming produces the same yields as does chemical farming, studies by the noted Japanese expert, Masanobu Fukuoka have shown that in natural farming (an extreme form of organic farming in which the plants after reaping are allowed to decay to provide manure for the next crop and there is very little application of external organic manure) the soil steadily improves over time in organic matter, moisture, microbial activity and other soil quality indicators and as a result, the yield keeps increasing. This is in contrast to conventional chemical farming in which the yield increases the first few years and then begins to decrease.

So chemical (or "modern") farming is ecologically more damaging, economically more expensive and produces less nutritious (and in the opinion of many, less tasty) food than organic (or "traditional") farming. It is tragic that Indian farmers have been forced to change from the much superior traditional farming to modern farming. Eighteenth century British records show that between 1762 and 1766 there were villages in Chingleput district in Tamilnadu which produced up to 12 tons of paddy a hectare in a year (www.cpsindia.org). In comparson, the best modern US production is nine tons per hectare in a year. It was this superiority of traditional agriculture in India that inspired the founder of modern organic farming, Sir Albert Howard. It is hoped that the Rodale study will open the eyes of the agricultural authorities in India and make them refocus on traditional organic farming.

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

Non-lawyers Can Appear In Consumer Courts

2011-09-21T20:52:00.000-07:00

In an important recent decision (III (2011) CPJ 33 (SC)), the Supreme Court has upheld the right of non-lawyers to appear before consumer courts.

Bar Council of India, which was one of the parties had contended that according to Sec. 33 of the the Advocates Act (which reads: Advocates alone entitled to practise.-Except as otherwise provided in this Act or in any other law for the time being in force, no person shall, on or after the appointed day, be entitled to practise in any court or before any authority or person unless he is enrolled as an advocate under this Act.), only advocates can plead and argue before the consumer courts. Therefore, it prayed for barring non-advocates from representing parties before consumer courts.

But the Supreme Court did not agree with this argument. It said that Consumer Protection Rules made under the Act speak of "the complainant or his authorized agent" and therefore give the complainant has the option of appearing personally before the consumer court or have his authorized agent appear for him. The same thing holds for the defendant also. The Court pointed out that engagement of advocates, especially when the claim is for a small amount may not be economically viable. Also, if the claim involves deficiency in service, a professional like a doctor, architect or an engineer may be more suitable to present the case than an advocate. Such an interpretation of the law is not only literally correct, but also promotes the declared objectives of the law. It helps the claimant and the defendant equally and it does not violate any provision of the Advocates Act, the Court noted.

The Court also noted that non-advocates are permitted to appear in various forums such as the Income Tax Tribunal, Sales Tax Tribunal and the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission. It is the legislative intention that non-advocates appear before many judicial and quasi-judicial bodies, it said.

For these reasons, the Supreme Court ruled that authorized agents who are not professional advocates can appear for the parties before consumer courts. To prevent non-advocates making a profession out of appearing as authorized agents, the Supreme Court directed the National Consumer Commission to frame detailed rules regarding appearance of agents. It suggested creating an accreditation process for agents who wish to collect fee and a bar on collecting fees by non-accredited agents.

G.L.Nagaraj Urs, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

MCC Clarifies On SAS Property Tax

2011-09-19T09:08:00.000-07:00

Mysore City Corporation has again clarified about SAS property tax. Since the circular issued to its staff is self-explanatory, its translation is reproduced below in full.

No.HAPR/78/2011-12

Dated 6-9-2011

Reminder

Sub: SAS property tax declaration

Ref: Reminder sent from this office with the same number and dated 26-7-2011

The returns and the tax submitted by the property tax payers under the Self Assessed Property Tax scheme to zonal offices have to be inspected and received by the concerned officials and the self assessed tax of the property owners should not be rejected. You were directed by the reference letter that if there are differences in the self assessed tax declaration, the revenue inspectors must give a notice and obtain the difference according to the rules.

But, a complaint has been lodged by Mysore Grahakara Parishat that harassment of the tax payers by the revenue inspectors has again started in the zonal offices, the instructions of the reference letter are not being followed, and saying that they have instructions from the MCC Commissioner to accept only taxes which follow their calculations, SAS taxes are not being accepted in some zonal offices.

Therefore, we are once again informing you that as indicated in the reference letter, if the public calculate their tax, fill out the SAS form and come to pay the tax, such tax returns should be accepted and the payment should be received. Afterwards, if on inspection, it is found that there is a difference, steps should be taken to obtain the difference.

Assistant Commissioners/Assistant Revenue Officers and revenue inspectors are instructed to follow the above directions. Such complaints should not come again. If such complaints are received again, you are warned that suitable action will be taken on the concerned officials.

Sd/-
Revenue Officer
Mysore City Corporation

It is welcome that MCC Commissioner and Revenue Officer have given such a clarification to prevent harassment of the tax payers. They are to be congratulated. Below are the scanned copies of the above letter and the reference quoted in it. The public can make use of them.

(Click on the images for better clarity)

Dr.T.N.Manjunath, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Check Computer Generated Receipts

2011-09-16T05:53:00.000-07:00

Sir, Recently I went to a supermarket in Mysore and purchased a few things. After coming home, I took a look at the receipt and saw the word "Jaggery" on it. Since I had not purchased any jaggery, I started wondering how it got printed on the receipt. I checked all the things listed on the receipt with the things I had actually bought and I found out that a packet of dried peas which I had bought was not listed on the receipt. On closer scrutiny, I found that the number printed under the bar code on the pea packet was 9031223 while the number against the entry "Jaggery" on the receipt was 9031233 (one digit difference). The price of the pea packet was Rs. 18 while I had been charged Rs. 46 for the jaggery I had not bought.

When I went to the store to get the refund of Rs. 28, I was told that even if the bar code on the packet is slightly damaged, the bar code scanner can not read it. This happens quite often. Then, the person at the counter has to punch in the number (beneath the bar code) manually for the computer which generates the receipt. Naturally, mistakes happen in the punching and the item bought does not get billed. Instead the customer is billed for an item he did not purchase.

Many people are under the impression that since the receipt is generated by a computer, it is always correct. But this impression is wrong. Consumers should check the receipt to make sure that they are not wrongly billed.

B.Vaikunth Shenoy, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Electricity Rate Hike: Objections, CESC Replies & Rebuttals

2011-09-16T05:48:00.000-07:00

Chamundeshwari Electric Supply Corporation (CESC) has proposed a rate hike for 2012 before the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission. It has submitted its reply to MGP's objections to the rate hike. KERC is holding a public hearing at 11 AM on 14-9-11 at the DC's Office in Mysore about the CESC application. MGP will be submitting its rebuttal of CESC replies at the hearing. MGP's objections, CESC replies and MGP's rebuttal of these replies are given below.

Objection No.1: KERC approved the present tariff as a multi-year tariff for the years 2011-13. Sec. 61(f) of the Electricity Act, 2003 (EA) mandates multi-year tariffs. There are two reasons for fixing multi-year tariff rather than annual tariff, i) to encourage efficiency of supply companies and ii) to reduce regulatory uncertainty. Fixing the tariff once again when there are two years left on the original period of the multi-year tariff defeats the whole purpose of multi-year tariff and violates the EA. It should not be done.

CESC Reply: The present application is supplemental to the MYT order for 2011-13. TheMYT process is continuous and not one time application. There are certain deferred claims on the above MYT order which has to be claimed in the subsequent APR applications. So the present application is in order and there is no violation of the EA.

Rebuttal: The MYT process is not meant to be continuous. The ESCOMs are supposed to make accurate projections and come before the KERC only once in every 3-4 years. If they can not make accurate projections, hence suffer a loss and ask for tariff revisions every year, there is no point to the MYT system. The lawmakers realized that the ESCOMs should be made efficient and accountable and that is why they have legislated MYT. Unfortunately, the spirit of the law is being violated in Karnataka, since we have filed objections to electricity rate increases before KERC almost every year from 2006 (on 31-7-06, 21-7-07, 9-9-09, 25-11-10 and 25-8-11). This is a travesty of the concept of multi-year tariffs.

Objection 2: Sec.61(g) of EA intends that the tariff should reflect the actual cost of power. Since all the power supply companies in Karnataka have filed for identical tariff increases, it is obvious that the tariff proposed by them in general, and CESC in particular, does not reflect the actual cost of power. The present rates and the proposed rates are identical for all the ESCOMs. The actual cost of supply of power for all these companies can not be the same to the last decimal place when one takes into account, the different locations, different distances to power sources, different demographics and different costs of living. It is clear that the ESCOMs have not determined the cost of power supply in any scientific manner, but are presenting fictitious numbers.

CESC Reply: CESC is filing the present application based on actual accounts.

Rebuttal: Not only should the application be based on actual accounts, the tariff asked should also be based on the actual accounts. The different ESCOMs must have different Operations and Maintenance costs and different income-expenditure gaps. How then can they all ask for the same tariff hike? The fact that all ESCOMs have always asked for the same tariffs shows that they are acting as a cartel and are trying to illegally fix the price of electricity in Karnataka.

Objection 3: Sec.5.9.4 of the National Electricity Policy states that a more regulatory approach of setting standards for energy conservation would be followed. The most obvious regulation to promote energy conservation is to have higher tariffs for higher consumption. Increasing the tariff by the same amount irrespective of consumption goes in the opposite direction.

Rebuttal: Higher tariff for higher consumption is true in the current proposal, but the tariffs for high and low consumption have come closer because of the common increase. If the tariff continues to be increased by the same amount for all consumers, the gap between the rate paid by energy savers and the rate paid by energy guzzlers will become even less. To see this clearly, let us look at the present rates. The highest rate of Rs. 5 per unit is 238% of the lowest rate of Rs. 2.10 per unit. If the cost per unit is increased by 10 Rs. for all consumers, the lowest tariff would then be 12.10 per unit while the highest would be only Rs. 15.00. So the highest rate will be just 124% higher than the lowest rate. When the gap between the two tariffs keeps going down, there will not be enough incentive to economize and there will not be enough deterrent to wasteful spending. This is a violation of Sec. 5.9.4 of the National Electricity Policy. To be consistent with the NEP, the rate at which the higher slab tariff increases should be much higher than the rate at which the lower slab tariff increases. In the table above, if the lowest rate Rs. 2.10 is increased to Rs. 2.98, the highest rate Rs. 5 should be increased to at least Rs. 7.10.

Objection 4: Rural areas are suffering heavy power cuts in contrast to urban areas. This discrimination by CESC is against both equity and Sec. 5.1 of the National Electricity Policy. Electricity Regulatory Commissions of other states have acted to stop such discrimination. Karnataka Human Rights Commission has written to the state government on this issue. The Commission is urged to order an end to such discrimination.

CESC Reply: CESC is arranging 12 hours of single phase supply to rural areas. The power supply schedule is subject to variation depending on availability. CESC is not discriminating among consumers in arranging power supply.

Rebuttal: CESC may be arranging for 12 hour supply in rural areas. Is it not giving much longer continuous supply to cities? Is this not discrimination?

V.Mahesha, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Restriction Removed On Right To Information Queries

2011-09-08T03:20:00.000-07:00

In a recent and significant decision, the Central Information Commission has said that Right to Information queries need not be on a single subject.

In earlier judgments, Chief Information Commissioners Wajahat Habibullah and A.N.Tiwari had ruled that an RTI application should be limited to a single subject matter. If the applicant seeks information on more than one subject matter, he has to file a applications and pay Rs. 10 for each subject matter.

But in the latest order (given by Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi on 28-8-11), the CIC has reversed itself. Referring to the earlier decisions, it observes

"What constitutes a 'single subject matter' has neither been defined in the RTI Act, the rules and regulations framed thereunder and not even by the then Chief Information Commissioners... No parameters have been laid down...by which an applicant and the Public Information Officer can determine whether the information sought pertains to one subject matter. In the absence of any means to determine what tantamounts to 'one subject matter', the PIO can, at his discretion, furnish part information claiming that the remaining information sought in the RTI application pertains to a different subject matter for which a separate RTI application is required to be filed...The exercise of such discretion by the PIO is likely to be subjective resulting in arbitrary curtailment of the fundamental right to information of citizens and unnecessary expenditure of money. In the absence of any clear definition of what 'one category of request' means it would only lead to arbitrary refusals of information under the RTI Act, leading to clogging of the appellate mechanisms."

Sec. 14 of the Karnataka Right to Information Rules made under the RTI Act says that a request should relate to one subject matter. If an applicant seeks information on more than one subject matter, he should make separate applications. So the limit to one subject matter has been made a part of the law itself in Karnataka (The legality of making such a rule is itself questionable. The function of rules is to support and implement the law under which they are made. But rules can not impose conditions which are absent in the law. So the above Karnataka rule could be itself illegal).

Despite the fact that the limit to one subject matter has been made a part of the law in Karnataka, the logic of the latest CIC judgment is still applicable. KRI Rules also do not define what constitutes a single subject matter nor do they lay down parameters by which an applicant and the PIO can determine whether the information sought pertains to one subject matter or more than one. So Sec. 14 of the KRI Rules which limits RTI requests to one subject matter can not be enforced according to the latest CIC decision.

But there are no clear rules of precedence in the Right to Information framework. So the State Information Commission need not follow the judgments of the Central Information Commission and an Information Commission is not even bound by its own earlier decisions. As a result, the next time an Information Commission faces the single subject problem, it can rule in any way.

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

Dangerous Road Hump On KRS Road

2011-09-08T03:09:00.000-07:00

KRS Road which was closed for more than a year has been finally reopened for traffic after major upgradation. An unwelcome feature of the upgraded road is the road hump between the Railway Museum and the LIC building.

This has already caused several accidents especially at night, since there are no street lights.

The Indian Roads Congress (IRC), a consultative body consisting of the top experts on the subject has published the definitive guidelines (IRC: 99-1988) on the construction of road humps. These guidelines say that road humps are meant mainly for residential areas and minor roads. Their use on major roads is not considered good engineering practice and IRC explicitly discourages it. So one probably should not have a road hump on KRS Road.

According to the guidelines, a driver should not lose directional control when crossing the hump. But auto drivers tell us that several two-wheeler drivers are losing control over this hump. The reason seems clear. The guidelines suggest a design with a height of 4 inches and a width of 12 feet for controlling the speed of two-wheelers and cars to 25 kmph. This can be used on roads on which heavy traffic is very rare. If there are many busses/lorries plying such roads, they will feel a fairly severe jolt at 25 kmph and so the vehicles will cross the hump at lower speeds forcing the following traffic to speeds much less than the safe speed. For roads on which lorries and busses are the dominant traffic, the width of the hump must be increased to 16 feet to limit the speed of such traffic to 25 kmph.

It is seen from the photo that the hump on KRS road is about 6 inches high and only 5 feet wide. It is no wonder two-wheeler drivers lose control over the vehicles when crossing it. Busses and lorries almost come to a stop while crossing it, causing more accidents.

It is not clear who is in charge of laying road humps in Mysore, the Corporation or the police. Whoever it is, it is clear that the IRC Guidelines are not being followed. It is doubtful if any of the road humps in Mysore meet the above specifications. Badly designed road humps instead of reducing accidents, worsen the problem.

D.V. Dayanand Sagar, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Badly Designed Bus Stops

2011-08-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

Several High Tech bus stops have been built at enormous expense all around the city under JNNURM grants. But they are not well-designed or well-maintained. Here are two examples.

In the bus stop next to Lakshmi Theatre, the seats are too high. Since the seats have no backs, it is easy to lose balance and topple over. There is a deep gutter just behind the bus stop and there is no no protective barrier.

People in general and children in particular can slip and fall into the drain. It is not clear why a protective barrier has not been installed.In the bus stop near Nirmala Convent in Gokulam, there are no seats for the last several months. It is possible that they were stolen after installation, but no one has bothered to replace them.

Without seats, the bus stop is almost useless and people are using the old bus stop.

D.V. Dayanand Sagar, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Ward Committees Again?!

2011-08-24T04:35:00.000-07:00

It was reported in the media recently that MCC Wards Parliamentary Federation has invited interested persons to apply to become members of Citizens' Committees.

I had become a member of such a committee for my ward last year. But meetings were not held regularly and nothing came out of the meetings that were held. We were told that we can get improvement projects executed and if we raised 10% of the cost, the other 90% would be borne by MCC. We raised a significant amount of money based on this assurance, but the remaining 90% never materialized and the projects never got off the ground.

I am surprised that applications are again being sought for the ward committees. What happened to the old committees? What is the purpose of these committees? If the old committees are being scrapped and new committees formed, will the new committees also not become fruitless soon?

D.V. Dayanand Sagar, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Immediate Action from MCC Needed

2011-08-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

The water distribution system of Mysore is being revamped under JNNURM project. Under the tripartite agreement signed by Mysore City Corporation, Karnataka Water Supply and Drainage Board and Jamshedpur Utilities and Services Company, JUSCO is laying new water lines to every consumer in Mysore.

But the new pipes are being installed only for a distance of one meter inside one's property. It is the reponsibility of the owner of the property to lay the pipes from there to the water meter. It is very difficult to get labour for such a small job. Even if labour can be found, the payment demanded is huge. From the complaints we have received from J.P.Nagar, workers are demanding as much as Rs. 1000-1500. Many desperate home owners are paying this huge amount. As the work progresses, the nearly 2 lakh domestic and commercial establishments in Mysore will face the same problem.

If JUSCO itself does this work, not only will it be faster, the property owners will also be spared effort and expense. MGP has spoken to both JUSCO and KUWS&DB. JUSCO is ready to do the job only if KUWS&DB which is the paying authority issues instructions. KUWS&DB will issue instructions only if MCC passes a resolution to this effect and gets it approved by the state government. Therefore the proposal of having JUSCO do the entire job, one that may benefit lakhs of property owners in Mysore, hinges on MCC' resolution.

Therefore we request MCC to pass a resolution on the matter and ask KUWS&DB to issue suitable instructions to JUSCO. Let JUSCO publish its rate for laying one foot of pipe. If people find it acceptable, they will get the work done by JUSCO. On the other hand, if they think it is too much, they can get the work done by others.

V.Mahesha, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Fast Courts To Be Set Up To Try Food Adulteration Cases

2011-08-16T07:37:00.000-07:00

Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA) which was passed by the parliament in 2006 itself has finally come into force three months after the gazette notification of the Food Safety and Standards Rules on 5-5-11. FSSA which replaces eight earlier laws (including the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act - PFAA - and orders referring to food passed under the Essential Commodities Act) is in effect all over the country from 5-8-2011. FSSA will govern any establishment connected with food, including shops, roadside eateries and hotels and also advertisements related to food.

The main features of the FSSA are as follows:

1. A committee of 22 members called the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has been set up to specify standards with respect to food items and to set maximum pemissible limits for the use of food additives, pesticide residues, heavy metals, etc. in food items. As of now, the standards and limits set by the PFAA hold.

2. A Commissioner of Food Safety has been appointed in every state with the responsibility of effectively implementing the Act. This is a full-time job. S.Selvakumar, who served as MCC Commissioner in 2002-3 has been appointed the Commissioner of Food Safety for Karnataka.

3. A Designated Officer (DO) has been appointed in every district to enforce the act. Dr. D.G.Nagaraj, the surveillance Officer in the District Health Office is the DO for Mysore district. The DO is in charge if issuing (and cancelling) licences to all establishments connected with food (This duty is now being handled by MCC). His responsibilities also include getting food samples tested to see if they meet standards and filing cases under FSSA against persons who sell substandard or adulterated food items.

4. Food Safety Officers (FSO) have been appointed in every Taluk. The FSOs have the responsibility of collecting food samples from various establishments. They can also close down and seal an establishment under certain circumstances. A liability clause has been written into the law and any FSO who exercises his powers in bad faith can be punished with a fine of upto one lakh rupees. H.J.Suryanarayana is the FSO for Mysore city and P.T. Mahadeva is the FSO for Mysore rural.

5. The public can not file a case under FSSA against an adulterator. They have to get the FSO take the sample and then get it tested through the DO. Only a DO or the Commissioner of Food Safety can file a case under FSSA.

6. Cases under the FSSA can not be filed in ordinary courts. To try such cases, an officer not below the rank of Additional District Magistrate has been appointed in all districts as an Adjudicating Officer. He has all the powers of a civil court.

7. An appeal against an order of the Adjudicating Officer lies with the Food Safety Appellate Tribunal. Such tribunals have been established in all states.

8. The Adjudicating Officer and the Tribunal can try cases in summary fashion, i.e., speedily and without the complicated procedures of the Civil Procedure Code. They are similar to consumer courts in this respect.

9. No civil court can take any case over which the Adjudicating Officer or the Tribunal has jurisdiction. An appeal against the order of the Tribunal lies only with the High Court.

10. Penalties for food adulteration have been enhanced compared to the PFAA. PFAA speaks of fines in the thousands while FSSA talks only of lakhs of rupees. If violation of the law results in death, FSSA prescribes a minimum imprisonment of 7 years (extending to life imprisonment).

Some negative aspects of the new law:

11. In the versions of PFAA before 1991, there was an upper limit to insect parts, rodent hair or excreta that could be present in grains, but this restriction has been omitted from later editions of the PFAA. FSSA also omits such restrictions. The reason for this omission is not clear. In the FSSA, the only reference to the presence of insects in grains is Sec. 3(zz)(ix) which says that a food is "unsafe" if the presence of insects in it is injurious to health. Since eating rice weevils is probably not injurious to health, one can sell rice infested with weevils without attracting punishment under FSSA. This is strange.

12. The law seems carelessly drafted in a few places. For example, a purchaser can take food samples from a vendor and have them analyzed. If the food is adulterated, the purchaser is supposed to get the cost of analysis refunded. But it is not clear who will refund the fee, the food analyst, the vendor or the government. It is also not clear who will issue the order of the refund. Another example of careless drafting of the law is the following. The Adjudicating Officer is required to pass the final order within 90 days from the date of the first hearing of any case, but the law has forgotten to include a time limit for the Tribunal.

C.V. Nagaraj, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

MGP Objections To Electricity Tariff Hike Proposal

2011-08-10T11:29:00.000-07:00

Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC), which supplies electric power to Mysore has filed an application before the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) to increase electricity tariffs for 2012. CESC has called for objections to the rate increase. Mysore Grahakara Parishat is filing the following objections:

1. KERC approved the present tariff in 2010 as a multi-year tariff for the years 2011-13. Sec. 61(f) of the Electricity Act, 2003 (EA) mandates multi-year tariffs. There are two reasons for fixing multi-year tariff rather than annual tariff, to encourage efficiency of supply companies and to reduce regulatory uncertainty. Fixing the tariff once again when there are two years left on the original period of the multi-year tariff defeats the whole purpose of multi-year tariff and violates the Electricity Act.

2. Sec. 61(g) of EA intends that the tariff should reflect the actual cost of power. Since all the electricity supply companies (ESCOMs) in Karnataka have filed for identical tariff increases, it is obvious that the tariff proposed by them in general, and CESC in particular, does not reflect the actual cost of power. For example, the proposed tariffs (energy charges) for LT 2(a)(i) category (domestic AEH) is as follows:

                     Present rate          Proposed rate     % increase

For the first
30 units                 2.1        2.98                   42

31 to 100 units     3.2                    4.08                   28

101 to 200 units      4.2                    5.08                   21

> 200 units            5                      5.88                   18

These figures are identical for all the five ESCOMs in Karnataka. Last year also, the five ESCOMs had applied for identical tariff increases. The actual cost of supply of power for all these companies can not be the same to the last decimal place when one takes into account, the different locations, different distances to power sources, different demographics and different costs of living. It is clear that the ESCOMs have not determined the cost of power supply in any scientific manner, but are presenting fictitious numbers. For this reason, the tariff hike proposed by CESC should be rejected. The ESCOMs have been always submitting identical tariffs and MGP has requested KERC to direct them to cease this practice and determine the actual cost of power supplied.

3. Sec. 5.9.4. of the National Electricity Policy emphasizes a more regulatory approach to setting standards for energy conservation. The most obvious regulation to promote energy conservation is to have higher tariffs for higher consumption. Increasing the tariff by the same amount irrespective of consumption goes in the opposite direction. In the table above (Item 2), the tariff has been increased by 0.88 Rs. for all consumers. This works out to 42% increase for consumers who practice energy conservation and just 18% increase for consumers who waste energy. Such a rate increase defeats the aim of the National Electricity Policy. Since Sec. 61(i) of the EA mandates that the National Electricity Policy must be followed in fixing tariffs, the rate increase also violates the law. Rightly, it should have been the other way round, 18% increase for the lowest slab and 42% increase for the highest slab.

4. Rural areas are suffering heavy power cuts in contrast to urban areas. This discrimination by CESC is against both equity and Sec. 5.1 of the National Electricity Policy. Electricity Regulatory Commissions of other states have acted to stop such discrimination. For example, in an order given on 5-5-2006, the Punjab ERC has ruled "The Commission further decides that the (Punjab State Electricity) Board should take adequate steps to minimize discrimination amongst consumers of different categories especially rural and urban domestic consumers as far as possible while imposing power cuts." In another order issued on 18-5-2007, PERC said "The Commission notes that there is disparity in the imposition of power cuts especially in the case of some urban centres and in rest of the State. The Commission observes that this clear discrimination between two sets of the same consumers seems to be iniquitous and without any rational basis. It would, perhaps, be best if power cuts are applied evenly in urban and rural areas of the State. If on the other hand the Board is still of the view that there are overriding compulsions to the contrary then it may draw up fair and transparent criteria that might justify any disparity in the imposition of power cuts." In a 2009 concept paper on power cuts (pdf) the Uttarakhand Electricity Regulatory Commission has observed "If all such feeders are not required to be cut, requisite number of feeders only may be cut but on rotational basis so that all consumers bear the brunt of such power cuts" and then again "The practice of exempting some cities for their perceived importance should be stopped and all urban areas should be treated similarly." These are some persuasive precedents. Karnataka Human Rights Commission has written to the state government on this issue. KERC should order an end to such discrimination.

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

Sweeping Beauty or Sleeping Beauty?

2011-08-04T06:22:00.000-07:00

A street sweeping machine was procured by MCC last year at considerable expense and much fanfare. This sweeping beauty is found mostly parked in front of the MCC Office or under repair on the streets with a couple of mechanics attending to the defects (see photo). We were told that the machine is being used during the night hours to clean the streets, but I have not met anyone who has seen it working. Will the MCC publish its schedule so that interested people like me can see it in action?

Vasanthkumar Mysoremath, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Yadavagiri Reservoir Roof Collapses Again?

2011-07-29T06:17:00.000-07:00

Last evening (22-7-11), I heard a loud sound from the direction of the Yadavagiri water reservoir. I knew that a section of the roof must have collapsed, because when I last heard a similar sound (26-4-11), I found that the a portion of the roof had crashed down. This afternoon I noticed that several workers were installing corrugated sheets at the farther end of the reservoir. It appears that another section of the roof has caved in and repairs are being done to cover the hole.

K.M.Chaithanya Prasad, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Another Weapon For Consumers

2011-07-25T09:09:00.000-07:00

Before 1987, people in India had no option but to approach civil courts to solve their consumer problems. Since civil courts were extremely slow and also expensive, most people with problems did not bother to go to courts. But in 1987, the Consumer Protection Act came into effect and the citizens had a fast and inexpensive means of solving their consumer problems. In 1988, the Directorate of Public Grievances was set up and the public could approach it to solve all types of problems with central government departments as well as nationalized banks and insurance companies.

The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 is another weapon for citizen problems, which is not that well-known. The basic purpose of the Act is to set up Lok Adalats which are intended to settle cases (filed in the regular courts) through arbitration and settlement. Lok Adalats provide fast and inexpensive justice. But in 2002 and 2006, the Act was amended to set up permanent Lok Adalats to handle disputes (deficiency in service, claim for compensation, recovery of money, etc.) related to the following services:

(i) transport (passengers or goods) by air, road or water

(ii) post, telegraph, telephone

(iii) electricity, water

(iv) system of public conservancy or sanitation

(v) hospital, dispensary

(vi) insurance

(vii) banking and other financial institutions.

(It is strange that in the above list of services, public conservancy finds a place. The list could have included municipal services instead. It would have been even better if Mysore City Corporation and Mysore Urban Development Authority had their own Lok Adalats as has been done in Delhi.)

Permanent Lok Adalats are a powerful weapon for the citizens to get redressal for their grievances related to the above services. Anyone who has any problems connected with these services can file a case with the permanent Lok Adalat. The advantages of filing a case before the permanent Lok Adalat are

1. It is inexpensive. There are no court fees. You need not hire a lawyer. You can present the case yourself.

2. It is fast. The permanent Lok Adalat is not bound by the Civil Procedure Code or the Indian Evidence Act. So hearings are very informal and the case is decided within one or two hearings.

The order of the permanent Lok Adalat is final and it can not be challenged in other courts.

The permanent Lok Adalat is somewhat like a consumer court. It is even cheaper than the consumer court since there is no court fee. Consumer Courts do not admit cases against government hospitals when the service is free. But such cases can be filed before the permanent Lok Adalats. Similarly, consumer courts are reluctant to admit cases against municipal corporations, but cases against municipal corporations related to garbage clearance, UGD, pigs, etc. can be filed before the permanent Lok Adalats. The only restriction in Lok Adalats is that the value of the suit be less than Rs. 10 lakhs.

Here is a recent example in which the permanent Lok Adalat was used effectively. N.P. Bhat (noted consumer activist, former Chief Commissioner of Income Tax and former Director General of Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission) filed a case before the Permanent Lok Adalat in Dharwad saying that overflowing garbage bin of a community hall near his house had made the whole area very dirty and the stink of the garbage had ill effects on the health of his family. He also complained that overflowing sewage nearby was posing a danger to public health. He further complained that the public toilets at the city bus stand were not cleaned regularly leading to unbearable stench. Even though he and other civic groups had complained often to the Municipal Corporation, no action had been taken on these problems.

Notice were issued to the Commissioner of Hubli-Dharwad City Corporation and two other officials of HDCC and they denied all the allegations made by Bhat. In support of his allegations, Bhat produced affidavits from six citizens. The Lok Adalat said there was no reason to doubt the truth of these affidavits. It also said that photographs produced by Bhat and not disputed by the HDCC officials proved that HDCC failed in their duty to maintain cleanliness in Dharwad. In its award dated 22-6-2011, it ordered that HDCC should rectify these deficiencies and pay Bhat Rs 8,000 as compensation for the suffering of his family and Rs. 100 as costs.

The permanent Lok Adalat for Mysore District is located at the city court complex near 2nd JMFC and 3rd JMFC courts. Its contact number is 233 0130.

Dr. T.N. Manjunath, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

A Geologist's View of Saraswatipuram Underbridge

2011-07-25T09:03:00.000-07:00

It is reported in the media that repairs are being done to solve the problem of flooding of the Saraswatipuram underbridge. As a geologist specializing in ground water and having work experience of more than 35 years, let me give my perspective on the problem.

The university playgrounds located just to the east of the underbridge consist of highly fractured and weathered murummic quartz (sand) rich rocks and filled up with brownish sandy soil. The nature of the soil facilitates easy and fast percolation. It might be the reason that there is no significant surface runoff even during heavy rains. The deep road cutting for the railway underbridge accentuates the process of percolation and it is possible that it is the percolated water seeping on to the road that is the main cause of the flooding of the underbridge. If this is the real reason for the flooding, an underground sump may be built on the eastern side of underground road and an automatic pump installed to bail out the water. This work may be taken up now along with the rest of the repairs to solve the problem.

V.Mahesha, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Most Levies Of MCC Are Illegal

2011-07-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

The functioning of Mysore City Corporation is governed by Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976. MCC can exercise its powers only within the limits set by the KMC Act and any act of MCC beyond these limits is illegal. In light of this fact, let us see if the various taxes and cesses levied by MCC are legal.

KMC Act available here is up-to-date and includes all the amendments made to the Act till now. Sec. 103 of the Act lists all the taxes and cesses that can be levied by any city corporation in Karnataka.

They are

1. tax on buildings or vacant land or both (property tax)

2. tax on advertisement

3. duty on certain transfers of property

4. infrastructure cess on motor vehicles and

5. solid waste management cess (Water "tax" levied by MCC is not considered a tax but a usage fee and is authorized by Sec. 191 of the KMC Act). The KMC Act also prescribes exactly how property tax is to be levied. Comparing the provisions of the KMC Act with the taxes and cesses levied by MCC, we were shocked to find that most of the cesses levied are illegal and the way the property tax is levied is also illegal. We were not sure that there might not be sections of the KMC Act which escaped our attention which permit the taxes and cesses of MCC and therefore we filed an application under Right to Information to MCC about the legal basis of the taxes and cesses levied by it. We have received the reply and after going through it we are certain that most levies of MCC are illegal.

Let us look at them one by one.

1. Health cess, anti-beggary cess, library cess: The MCC reply quotes government circulars of 30-3-76 (health cess), 30-5-76 (anti-beggary cess) and 26-3-94 (library cess) as the authority for levying these cesses. But as mentioned above, Sec. 103 of the KMC Act permits only five taxes and cesses and no other. Since the health cess, anti-beggary cess and library cess are not in this list and since goverment circulars can not override a law passed by the legislature, these cesses are illegal.
2. Vacant site cleaning cess: Starting this year, MCC is levying a fee of Rs. 0.50 per sq.ft on all vacant sites as cleaning cess. MCC says it is relying on a government circular of 25-3-10 as the authority for the levy. Again this cess is not in the list of Sec. 103 of KMC Act and is illegal.
3. UGD cess: MCC is levying an UGD cess along with the water bill. This is also illegal since it is not in the list contained in Sec. 103 of the KMC Act.
4. Depreciation: In calculating property tax, MCC permits an annual depreciation of the value of buildings based on a government circular of 28-8-03. But there is no provision for depreciation in the KMC Act and so it is illegal.
5. 50% rebate for self-occupation: MCC says the rebate is based on Sec. 109A of the KMC Act. But Sec 109A of the KMC Act which gave 50% rebate for self-occupation was deleted with effect from 1-4-2005. It is amazing that neither the state government not MCC is aware of this change even after six years. So the 50% rebate for self-occupancy is also illegal.
6. Fresh calculation every year: MCC is forcing the citizens to calculate the property tax afresh every year. This is also illegal. Sec. 109A of the KMC Act clearly says that the property tax shall not be assessed each year but shall stand enhanced by 15 percent once in every three years commencing from the financial year 2005-2006. So once the property tax is calculated, it need not be calculated afresh every year after that.

Perusal of MCC's reply revealed two more anomalies. Firstly, the 2% per month penalty for late payment applies only to the property tax and not to the cesses. This seems absurd.

Secondly, the online calculator enhances the site value by 10% if it is a corner site. This is in accordance with the property guideline values published by the district registrar. But the printed form does not ask whether the site is a corner site. Property values in various areas of Mysore published by MCC itself in 2007 also do not mention this 10% enhancement for corner sites. So owners of corner sites who use the online calculator pay 10% extra while those who use the printed form do not. This also seems absurd.

P.M.Bhat, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

MCC Commissioner and The Public

2011-07-10T20:08:00.000-07:00

It appears that meeting the Commissioner of Mysore City Corporation during the public visiting hours of 3-5 PM is quite difficult. In the last two weeks, MGP tried to meet the Commissioner 10 times and failed on every occasion.

We would first call his office on the phone and if there was a possibility that he was available, we would go to his office. The reasons for not being able to meet him were: he was with the minister (twice), he was preparing for the CM's visit, he was out of town (twice), he had meetings with the DC (this cost us a visit, since we were told he might be back between the meetings), he had scheduled two meetings, one with an expert from Bangalore and one with MCC officials (this also cost us a visit, since we were told that we could meet him between the meetings), he was supposed to be back from Delhi but did not come, City Council meeting ate up the visiting hours, he was at home but did not come to the office (this also cost us a visit).

Some of the reasons, such as the minister's visit, are unavoidable, even though it is not clear why all the top officials from MCC, MUDA, etc. should follow any minister who comes to town. All other reasons are untenable and a breach of public trust.

The MCC Commissioner should not schedule any meetings with officials during the public hours. Even the DC should refrain from holding meetings during public hours, because by doing so, he is showing disrespect to the public who want to see him as well as the public who want to meet officials who attend these meetings such as MCC Commissioner.

Every day, innumerable people including the elderly, women and the handicapped come to see the MCC Commissioner during the public hours. If every one else in the Corporation was doing his or her job efficiently and sincerely, meeting the Commissioner would not be that important. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Flouting of rules and laws, unwillingness to take action against encroachers and illegal builders, not obeying the orders of higher officials are so rampant that the ordinary citizen is forced to approach the Commissioner as a last resort. The sight of dozens of helpless citizens waiting desperately for hours to meet the Commissioner is very sad indeed.

It is also not clear why the MCC Commissioner, when he has gone out of his office on unavoidable duty, does not update his office frequently about his movements and more importantly, about when he will be back. This will make life much easier for the public who call his office to enquire about his availability. It would also be good if the Commissioner's Office keeps a register in which the people who come during public hours can record their names and complaints.

V. Mahesha, Working President, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Footpaths Must Be Lower

2011-06-30T09:22:00.000-07:00

When Mysore City Corporation started using interlocking tiles for footpaths, it also increased the height of the footpaths relative to the road. In many places, the footpaths are so high that in cars parked at the edge of the road, it is not possible to open the doors

(Vinoba Road next to Nanjaraj Bahadur Choultry).

Forget the elderly and the children, even ordinary people have trouble getting on the footpaths from the road surface and so slabs have been placed as stepping stones. But these stepping stones obstruct traffic on the narrow cross roads.

(Devaraj Urs Road)

The Indian Road Congress specifications recommend that the footpath be 125 mm (about 6 inches) above the paved road. The clearance of doors in most cars on the road is about 250-300 mm (10-12 inches). If the footpath is more than 125 mm high, it becomes difficult to open the door and get down on the passenger side. To avoid this, people tend to park farther from the kerb, thus obstructing passing vehicles (See for example ).

It is imperative that MCC reduce footpath height to the recommended value of 125 mm in the interest of both pedestrian safety and vehicle safety.

B.Vaikunth Shenoy, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

MCC's Online Calculator Calculates SAS Tax Wrongly

2011-06-15T08:06:00.000-07:00

Mysore City Corporation provides a calculator on its website which is supposed to calculate your property tax. For multi-storeyed properties, it overestimates the tax and causes loss to the property owner. The calculator is not just incorrect, it also violates laws.

According to Sec. 109 of the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976, property tax is assessed on the value of the building plus the value of the land occupied by it. Vacant land around the building is exempt from tax. The MCC calculator calculates the value of the land for each floor of the building and therefrom the tax on the land. For a multistoreyed building, the value of the land and the tax on it must be calculated only once since all floors of the building stand on the same land, but the calculator does it for each floor and thus overestimates the tax. Owners of multistoreyed buildings who use the MCC calculator are paying more property tax than they should.

Now about the violation of laws. The calculator (and in fact all MCC records of properties) measures property dimensions in feet. It is amazing that even after 50 years of banning the British units of measurement and adopting metric units, MCC is still not using metres as units! The Standards of Weights and Measures Act, 1956 made the metre the official unit of length in India. The government and the public were given a grace period of 6 years to convert to the metric system. After 1-4-1962, it is illegal to use non-metric units such as feet. In fact, Sec. 80 of the Standards of Weights and Measures Act, 1976 (which replaced the 1956 Act) mandates that non-metric measures should not even be stated in any enactment, notification, rule or order of the government.

The MCC tax calculator also violates the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976.The calculator gives 50% discount for self-occupancy and allows for depreciation, but there are no provisions of the KMC Act which permit them.

In fact, using the calculator to calculate the property tax afresh every year is itself illegal. Sec. 109A of the KMC Act clearly says that the property tax shall not be assessed each year but shall stand enhanced by 15 percent once in every three years commencing from the financial year 2005-2006. So all one has to do is to pay (for 2011-12) 15% more than what was paid in 2010-11.

Another problem with the online tax calculator is that it can only calculates tax for the current year. People who have not paid last year's tax can not use the calculator since it does not give a printout of last year's tax.

P.M.Bhat, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Yet Another Type of Footpath Encroachment

2011-06-10T05:22:00.000-07:00

Under the guise of road widening, many footpaths in Mysore have been reduced next to nothing. What is left is very often encroached by roadside vendores, commercial establishments for customer parking and residents for their private gardens.

Now another type of "official" encroachment of footpaths is reducing the usefulness of footpaths even more. That is the erection of large cement signboards for circles (and roads). I have enclosed two examples, one at the intersection of Ramavilas Road and Narayana Shastri Road.........

.......and the one at the intersection of Dewan's Road and Vinoba Road

These signboards are blocking the already narrow footpaths.

This problem can be easily solved by removing these concrete structures (which become unsightly very soon from all the advertisements stuck on them) and instead hang a metal signboard from a steel cable strung diagonally across the circle. Such cables can be used to hang traffic lights also. (Such an arrangement - as seen in the below photo- is very common in many western countries which shows both signboards and traffic lights hung from a cable).

B.Vaikunth Shenoy, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Construction in Parks in Mysore

2011-06-08T07:22:00.000-07:00

The Commissioner
Mysore City Corporation
Mysore – 570020

Subject: CONSTRUCTIONS IN PARKS IN MYSORE

Reference: Karnataka Parks, Play-fields and Open Spaces Act and Rules, 1985.

Sir,

1. We have to bring to your immediate and urgent attention, the following instances of violations of the; Karnataka Parks, Play-fields and Open Spaces Act and Rules, 1985, in Mysore:

# Curzon Park Block-2 (Vishnuvardhan Park) – An amphitheatre

# Nishad Bagh (Kuppan na Park) – An amphitheatre, a musical fountain, a restaurant/hotel and parking space for motor vehicles

# People’s Park – Library building

2. It is also known that an amphitheatre is being planned in the Town Hall premises. Thus, within a distance of less than 1-km, there will be three amphitheatres. Also there is already a musical fountain in the Dasara Exhibition Grounds, and the need for another within 1-km cannot be justified. Already, a strip of Nishad Bagh (Kuppanna Park) has been acquired for road widening along Malemahadeshwara Road opposite to Sandesh The Prince Hotel. These provisions planned appear to be a waste of public money, which can be much better utilised to improve infrastructure within Mysore.

3 . It is understood that the Asst Director of Horticulture, Mysore City Corporation, has justified the construction in Curzon Park and Nishad Bagh, by a mistaken comprehension of Section 8(1) of Karnataka Parks, Play-fields and Open Spaces Act, 1985.

4. Section 8(1) of the Karnataka Parks, Play-fields and Open Spaces Act, 1985, specifically states,

“No person shall construct any building or put up any structure likely to affect the utility of the park, play-field or open space or make any encroachment in or over any park, play-field or open space specified in the list published under section 4 or section 5 Provided that the executive authority may, subject to such rules as may be prescribed, permit the construction of such buildings or putting up of such structures as may be necessary for the improvement or more beneficial utilisation of the park,play-field or open space.“

The relevant portion that shows how the Act has been misquoted by the MCC Asst Director of Horticulture is underlined for your attention. By using an area inside a public park for any sort of construction, such area will not be available to the public for use as a park, thus adversely affecting its utility as a park and going against the spirit of the Act. Further, in the provision under the same Section 8(1), the Karnataka Parks, Play-fields and Open Spaces Rules become applicable. Under Rule 6 of the Karnataka Parks, Play-fields and Open Spaces Rules (reproduced below), only well, pumphouse, benches and watchman quarters may be constructed. The planned construction mentioned in paragraph 1 above are outside the purview of the Act and Rules.

5. You will be aware that construction of a building within Cheluvamba Park (V.V.Puram) that was substantially more than a watchman’s quarters in area, design and specification, was challenged by Mysore Grahakara Parishat in 1995 as violation of Rule 6 of the Karnataka Parks, Play-fields and Open Spaces Rules before the Fourth Additional First Civil Judge (Junior Division), Mysore, and, after protracted litigation, the illegal structure was demolished by MCC following the Court Order dated 29.6.2000. The constructions mentioned in paragraph 1 above violate the Karnataka Parks, Play-fields and Open Spaces Act and Rules, 1985, in identical manner to the Cheluvamba Park case.

6. In view of the foregoing you are requested to immediately issue orders to stop the constructions as mentioned above in Paragraph 1, or any other construction in the park areas mentioned or any other parks in Mysore City.

Yours faithfully,
Maj Gen S.G.Vombatkere (Retd)
Convenor, MGP

Copy:Principal Secretary, UDD, GoK, Bangalore – for immediate action

Section 6 of Karnataka Parks, Play-fields and Open Spaces Rules, 1985 :

6. Construction of other structures in the parks, play fields and open spaces; - (1) The executive authority may permit construction of a well, pumphouse, benches for the visiting public to sit and quarters for the watchmen in any park, play-fields or open space.

(2) Notwithstanding anything in sub-rule (1):-

(a) no permission to construct quarters for the watchmen shall be granted where the total area of the park, play-field or open space is less than two hectares;

(b) in other cases, not more than two quarters may be permitted to be constructed and the area of any such quarters shall not exceed thirty square metres.

Photos from May 2011 issue of Grahaka Patrike

2011-05-28T09:09:00.000-07:00

(B.V. Shenoy)
MGP members met the SE of Mysore City Corporation, the EE of Karnataka Water Supply and Drainage Board and officials of Vani Vilasa Water Works to find more information on the present water crisis in Mysore.

(Vasanthkumar Mysoremath)
Mysore University recently held public hearings on the proposed cutting of 164 trees on the Manasa Gangotri campus to build a biodiversity centre and a hostel. Several MGP members attended the hearings and voiced their objections.

(Vasanthkumar Mysoremath)

MGP in association with the Institution of Engineers (Mysore Local) and the Indian Institute of Public Administration conducted a seminar on the Jan Lokpal bill. Maj.Gen.(Rtd.) S.G. Vombatkere of MGP was one of the main speakers.

Letter to MCC Commissioner opposing Road widening

2011-05-25T08:59:00.000-07:00

The following letter was just now handed over to the Commissioner of MCC.

The Commissioner, Mysore City Corporation

Mysore

REQUEST FOR MOST IMMEDIATE ATTENTION

Subject: TREE-FELLING AND ROAD WIDENING

Sir,

1. Mysore is a Heritage City. The heritage of Mysore is not only in its beautiful buildings and the culture of arts-and-crafts and dance-music-drama, but also in its planned avenues with shade and flowering trees, parks with trees, and lakes.

2. However, "trees which provide shade, mitigate the extremes of climate, render aesthetic beauty, purify the polluted atmosphere, and mute the noise, have been one of the first casualties of pressure on space in our cities and towns". The text in quotes is reproduced from the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act, 1976. According to one estimate, Mysore City has lost around 2,000 trees in the past four years, many of them roadside trees.

3. We understand that many roads within the area of Mysore City Corporation are being widened, and as a consequence, hundreds of trees are earmarked for clear felling. We object to this on grounds of environment, particularly in terms of Article 48A and Article 51A of the Constitution of India that require the State and the individual to protect and improve the environment, and preserve our rich heritage.

4. We do not deny the need to create urban infrastructure for easy movement of vehicular road traffic which is becoming increasingly congested. However, we believe that the infrastructure needed to be created for a long-term solution is an efficient public transport system that will largely replace the use of private vehicles which cause the congestion. Merely widening roads that will soon get filled with vehicles and bring back traffic congestion, is only a short-term solution that has serious disadvantages such as less space for pedestrians who walk on the road (thus more accidents and less space for vehicles), loss of roadside trees, increased air pollution and flooding during rain. This thoughtless road widening also goes against the recommendations of the National Urban Transport Policy, which calls for "a more equitable allocation of road space with people rather than vehicles as its main focus", and "encouraging greater use of public transport and non-motorized modes".

5. If road widening is being done to encourage tourism, it may kindly be noted that tourists visit Mysore for its heritage which includes the tree-lined avenues, and not for roads on which they can drive at speed without seeing much.

6. With the above background, we request that the following details w.r.t. road widening be made public by posting them on the MCC website immediately:

(a) Names of all roads proposed to be widened, specifying in each case,

(1) length in metres from which place to which place,

(2) widening from what (existing) width to what width,

(3) technical specifications of widening.

(b) Same as above but separately for the so-called Raja Marga.

(d) The Authority that has (or Authorities that have) approved the road-widening works, with date of approval.

(e) What public consultation (with dates) has been carried out w.r.t. to the road widening works.

(f) Number and type of trees road-wise, for which permission for cutting has been sought from the Forest Department, with date on which permission was sought.

7. We earnestly request that the details above be provided without our having to use the RTI Act. In fact, as you are no doubt aware, according to Sec 4(2) of the RTI Act, "it shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority to take steps in accordance with the requirements of clause (b) of sub-section (1) to provide as much information suo motu to the public at regular intervals through various means of communications, including internet, so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information", [emphasis added]. Therefore, the details now requested should have been placed in the public domain much earlier.

8. In the meanwhile, we request you to order an immediate stoppage of tree-felling for road widening until the issue is publicly and comprehensively discussed.

Yours faithfully,

Maj Gen S.G.Vombatkere (Retd), H.R.Bapu Satyanarayana, Dr.T.N.Manjunath, E.R.Ramachandran, Madhuri Thathachari, Dr.R.Chandra Prakash, M.B.Srinivas, Shankar Sharma, Syed Tanveeruddin,B.J.Rao, N.S.Chakravarthy, Dr.H.A.B.Parpia

Are Telephone Problems Covered Under Consumer Protection Act?

2011-05-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

Till recently, telephone problems (defective billing, illegal charging for song downloads, illegal disconnection, etc.) could be taken to consumer courts and justice obtained quickly and inexpensively. The National Consumer Commission's website makes this explicit: "The provisions of this (Consumer Protection) Act cover 'goods' as well as 'services'....The services are in the nature of transport, telephone, electricity, housing, banking, insurance, medical treatment, etc."

But in a decision that shocked the consumers, the Supreme Court ruled on 1-9-2009 (III(2009)CPJ 71(SC)) that consumer courts can not decide disputes relating to telephones - either landlines or mobiles. As a consequence of this ruling, almost all the consumer courts (including Mysore District Consumer Forum) are now rejecting complaints against deficiency in service by telephone companies.

The logic behind the Supreme Court order is as follows:

1. Rule 413 of the Telegraph Rules, 1951 provides that all services relating to telephone are subject to the Telegraph Rules made under the Telegraph Act, 1885 (TA). So telephone disputes are covered by the TA.

2. Section 7-B of the TA states that all disputes concerning any telegraph line, appliance or apparatus shall be determined by an arbitrator appointed by the Central Government. Therefore all telephone disputes shall also be determined by the same arbitrator.

3. A special law always overrides a general law.

4. TA is a special law and so it overrides Consumer Protection Act (CPA) which is a general law.

5. Therefore, even though CPA provides for determination of telephone disputes, it is overridden by the TA and so loses jurisdiction in telephone disputes.

But this order of the Supreme Court seems inconsistent with previous Supreme Court orders and accepted legal principles and so it is not a precedent to be followed by consumer courts. These inconsistencies have been beautifully explained in a decision given by Ferozpur (Punjab) District Consumer Forum on 11-9-09 (i.e., 10 days after the Supreme Court order) in a dispute concerning mobile phone service. It is amazing that President Sanjay Garg and Member S. Tarlok Singh of the Ferozpur DCF could go through the decision of the Supreme Court and come out with this detailed and excellent analysis in less than 10 days. The main points of the Ferozepur DCF order are:

1. The argument that CPA is a general law is crucial to the Supreme Court decision. But the Court does not explain why it is a general law. Applying the yardstick (repeatedly asserted by the Supreme Court itself) that only decisions given after a thorough discussion set a precedent, the present order of the Court is not a binding precedent and need not be obeyed by the lower courts.

In fact, it can be argued forcefully that CPA is not a general law. It applies only in disputes in which the consumer element is involved and hence is a special law. Therefore, it need not be overridden by another special law, namely, the TA.

2. To regulate the telecom industry (including the phone industry), the Parliament has passed The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997. According to Sec. 14 of the Act, the government shall establish a tribunal to deal with telecom disputes. But consumer disputes coming under the CPA are excluded from the purview of the tribunal. So when a consumer approaches a consumer court with a phone problem, CPA gets precedence.

3. It is a settled law that where two interpretations of law are possible, then the one favouring the consumer is to be taken. To direct a poor consumer involved in a petty dispute to approach the Central Government for appointment of an Arbitrator for relief would be a denial of justice, especially when the legislature has enacted a consumer friendly legislation for better protection of consumer rights.

4. Several special acts have established dispute redressal mechanisms. In deciding whether such disputes can also be taken to consumer courts, the Supreme Court has repeatedly held that unless there is a specific bar on their jurisdiction, consumer courts can take up such cases. For example, Cooperative Acts of various states specify that disputes concerning cooperative societies SHALL be decided by the Registrar of cooperative societies. But they do not explicitly bar other fora from adjudicating on the disputes. In one such case, the Supreme Court decided (2004 (1) CLT 456) that consumer courts have the jurisdiction. It said that since the purpose of the CPA was to protect the consumer and since its provisions are in addition to and not in derogation of other laws, the provisions CPA must be interpreted broadly, positively and purposefully to give it jurisdiction, unless there is clear bar.

Arbitration clauses in many contracts mandate arbitration under the Arbitration Act. But even in such cases, the Supreme Court has held (III (1996) CPJ 1 (SC)) that consumer courts can deal with the case since they can give relief from the cumbersome arbitration proceedings and the Arbitration Act does not specifically bar the jurisdiction of other fora.

But in the case of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, the Act states that Motor Accident Claims Tribunals shall decide claims connected with motor accidents (Sec. 165) and specifically bars the jurisdiction of civil courts (Sec. 175). In such cases, the Supreme Court has ruled ((1995) 2 SCC 479) that consumer courts do not have jurisdiction since there is a specific prohibition.

Since the TA does not specifically bar the jurisdiction of other fora, consumer courts can adjudicate phone disputes. The present decision of the Supreme Court with regard to telephones appears not to have considered these earlier decisions of the Supreme Court.

In addition to the above inconsistencies raised by the Ferozpur DCF with reference to the Supreme Court order, there is one more. Section 7-B of the TA states that all disputes concerning any telegraph line, appliance or apparatus, (i.e., hardware only) shall be determined by an arbitrator. But phone problems such as defective billing, illegal charging for song downloads, etc. are not hardware problems and so Sec. 7-B of the TA does not apply to them. Hence they can be dealt with by consumer courts.

Dr.T.N. Manjunath, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Is Diagnosis A Source Of Disease?

2011-05-18T09:53:00.000-07:00

In an article last week in the Los Angeles Times, Dr. Gilbert Welch, a professor of medicine at the prestigious Dartmouth University (and the author of "Over-diagnosed: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health"), draws attention to the strange fact that in modern medicine, diagnosis itself has become a source of disease. The criteria of what constitutes sickness, the rules which define abnormality are constantly being stretched so that more and more people are being declared sick. People who would not have been considered sick a few years ago are now being considered sick for the same diagnostic measurements. For example, a fasting blood sugar level of 130 mg/dl was not considered to be diabetes before 1997, but it is now. The same reduction of thresholds (which separate the normal from the abnormal, from the "well" to the "sick") is true of all other common diseases such as high blood pressure, osteoporosis, heart disease, cancer, etc. As a result, the number of normal people made "sick" by diagnosis and the attendant medical expenditure are skyrocketing. It appears that many normal people who felt perfectly well before the diagnosis feel less well after they are diagnosed as "sick". Thus diagnosis is introducing more "dis"-ease among people!

People who have been declared "sick" by the mere reduction of thresholds have a very low probability of experiencing their "disease" in their lifetime. Nevertheless, modern medicine puts them on treatment. Benefit of the treatment is minimal for these marginal patients, but they incur the full risk of the negative effects of the treatment. Reduction of the threshold in bone density has resulted in innumerable normal women to be diagnosed as suffering from osteopenia (which is a precursor to osteoporosis). One common treatment for osteopenia can lead to ulcers in the gullet and may even make bones more brittle with long-term use. Similarly, reduction of the threshold in the PSA test has resulted in innumerable normal men to be diagnosed as suffering from prostate cancer and the common treatment for prostate cancer leads to impotence, and bowel and bladder problems. Thus the reduction of thresholds is leading to treatments that may be worse than the disease.

Dr. Welch points out some reasons for why more and more normal people are being made "sick" by diagnosis. Money is the biggest reason. The more patients there are under treatment, the more profitable it is for the doctors, the hospitals and the drug companies.

Another reason is that doctors get frequently sued for failure to diagnose and failure to treat, but one rarely gets sued for over-diagnosis or over-treatment. So over-diagnosis and over-treatment are safer options for the doctor.

Anitha Sridhar, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Yadavagiri Reservoir Roof

2011-05-10T09:36:00.000-07:00

A portion of the roof of the Yadavagiri water reservoir collapsed on 26-4-11. After photos of the collapsed roof appeared in newspapers, work has been going on to repair the roof. It is almost complete now. Corrugated sheets have been placed over the opening left by the roof collapse so that dirt and birds can not get into the reservoir.

One observation on the repair. Curing was done on the repair on the top of the reservoir, but not on the repair of the sidewall. I do not know if they used some special concrete mix for the sidewall which does not need curing.

But this is a temporary solution at best. The entire roof needs to be replaced before other sections of the roof collapse causing possible loss of life. It is seen in the photos that there are white stripes painted all over the roof. It appears that these stripes are attempts to fill in cracks in the roof. Photo 1 shows that the roof has broken off just along these stripes indicating that there were cracks underneath the stripes. Since there are stripes all over the tank roof, it is likely that there are cracks everywhere. If the entire roof is not replaced, more and more cracks will get wider and more and more sections of the roof will collapse as it happened in Vijayanagar Central Storage Reservoir.

K.M.Chaithanya Prasad, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Mysore's Water Crisis - Some More Facts

2011-05-04T05:21:00.000-07:00

It is not easy to get the real story behind Mysore's drinking water problem. We met JUSCO's representatives, but we could not meet Vani Vilasa Water Works officials, however hard we tried. When JUSCO's version of the water situation appeared in the media, MCC Commissioner asked the department officials to meet us and explain their side. As a result, we could meet the SE of MCC, EE from Karnataka Water Supply and Drainage Board and officials of VVWW including the EE and got some more facts on the water crisis. JUSCO officials also attended the meeting.

Now meters have been installed on all the mains bringing water to Mysore from Kaveri and every one agrees that Mysore is getting more than 190 million litres a day. This is more than sufficient to meet the water needs of Mysore. But distribution problems are preventing many of us from getting our fair share of the water.

These problems are threefold. Firstly, overhead tanks have been built all over the city to supply water to the customers, but there were no pumps to pump water from the main reservoirs to these tanks. The pumps are being installed now and the work is expected to take about three months.

But the installation of the pumps will not end our water problems. The pipes which supply homes from the overhead tanks need to be replaced since there are leaks everywhere and an enormous amount of water is being lost every day.. JUSCO will be replacing 1700 km of pipelines in the coming months.

In addition to replacing the leaky pipelines, one more thing needs to be done. There are a lot of illegal connections, connections without meters. These connections are stealing a vast amount of water without generating any revenue to MCC. In many cases, they are responsible for the shortage of water for other consumers. These illegal connections have to be eliminated. There are powerful vested interests which would want to maintain status quo and it would be a test of the will of MCC and JUSCO.

When these three tasks are accomplished, Mysore may get 24x7 water supply. This work is being done in phases and water supply in some areas of the city may improve before others. To keep the public up-to-date, JUSCO has agreed to provide frequent detailed updates on the work progress and MCC has agreed to put this information on its website. The residents of various wards can check the MCC website and get a better picture of when their water problems will be solved.

Sreemathi Hariprasad, President, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Yadavagiri Reservoir Roof Collapse

2011-04-28T09:14:00.000-07:00

Day before yesterday (26-4-11), when it rained in the evening, I heard a loud sound. When I came out on the balcony to investigate, I saw that the a section of the roof of the Yadavagiri water reservoir had collapsed. If the authorities do not strengthen the the reservoir immediately, its entire roof might collapse before the rainy season is over.

K.M.Chaithanya Prasad, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Will MCC Clarify?

2011-04-28T09:05:00.000-07:00

MCC has issued a press statement (carried in today's newspapers) that property tax can be deposited in 9 branches of SBM, 12 branches of Vijaya bank and 14 branches of Syndicate bank. We talked to several branches of these banks, the AGM of SBM and the regional offices of Vijaya bank and Syndicate bank and all of them say that they have no instructions to receive property tax.

Before there are unnecessary arguments and fights between tax payers and these banks, will MCC clarify from when property tax can be paid in these banks banks and which branches are participating in this programme?

P.M.Bhat, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Photos from March and April 2011 issue of Grahaka Patrike

2011-04-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

11_04_1 (D.V. Dayanand Sagar)

On the occasion of World COnsumer Day (15-3-11), MGP members conducted a food adulteration detection demonstration for the public from 10 AM to 5 PM in Hinkal.

11_04_2 (D.V. Dayanand Sagar)

MGP's programme on World Consumer Day also included demonstration of simple methods to detect contamination of drinking water and simple methods to make contaminated water safe for drinking.

11_04_4 (D.V. Dayanand Sagar)

Dr. H.A.B. Parpia the founder-president of MGP was recently given a Life Time Acievement award by Aasare-Rudset.

11_05_1 (D.V. Dayanand Sagar)

The very busy KRS road has been closed to traffic for more than a year now to replace the old railway bridge. Different authorities are giving different dates for the reopening of the road.

11_05_2 (Vasanthkumar Mysoremath)

MGP members participated in the recent Dharna before the DC's office to protest the planned destruction of 293 roadside trees to create a "Rajamarga" in Mysore.

11_05_3 (B.V. Shenoy)

Property tax collection in the various zonal offices of Mysore City Corporation is very disorganized and chaotic.

11_05_4 (Vasanthkumar Mysoremath)

MGP members participated in the rally to support Anna Hazare's fight against corruption.

Streamline Property Tax Collection

2011-04-24T20:26:00.000-07:00

At present, property tax collection at the Mysore City Corporation zonal offices is very disorganized. If you go to a typical zonal office, you will see about 100 people crowded at several tables, some to obtain SAS tax forms, others to get the forms filled at a cost of Rs.25, others to get the cash challan stamped and yet others to pay to the people hired by ING-Vysya bank to collect the tax. The whole scene is one of utter confusion among the public who have come to pay property tax. There are no clear notices as to procedures, and the desks at which officials are seated do not indicate who the official is (name and designation). The result is that the public mills around without any direction, asking questions which are not answered by MCC staff. The working hours of the ING-Vysya are much shorter than MCC hours and the ING-Vysya people close before their own stated working hours ignoring the plight of dozens of people, especially the elderly waiting to pay their tax. They are not very helpful and often rude. One of our members had to call the Revenue Officer of MCC to get them to work. The absence of order and procedure, clearly attributable to lack of organization and preparedness for the known annual rush for payment of property tax in April to avail of 5% rebate, is deplorable. Incidentally, the situation was identical last year when Axis bank did the tax collection.

Some of the zonal offices are in buildings which are not designed to hold so many people. If there is any emergency (fire, etc), exit is not easy with narrow stairs and corridors and there are sure to be casualties due to rushing or stampede. MCC will be wholly responsible for casualties following any such mishaps.

Clearly, the tax collection system needs to be made simpler and more people-friendly. First of all, since the Revenue Officer of MCC has instructed to AROs to accept all Self Assessment Forms without raising objections (letter No.HAPR.1/08-09 dated 9-4-09), tax payers with filled forms need to get the cash challan stamped by any official before the payment is accepted. The present procedure of getting the challan stamped is unnecessary and needs to be immediately removed.

A few years ago, property tax payments could be made at any branch of SBM. It was very convenient for the public in every way. Such a system should be brought back. In fact MCC might consider more than one bank and the Post Office also for making tax payments.

The names and designations of all MCC officials and staff should be clearly displayed on each table in all zonal offices and the procedure for property tax payment displayed in bold letters for the convenience of the public.

The chaotic situation now prevalent in the zonal offices is obvious to anyone and it is surprising that MCC has not noticed it and taken steps to rectify it.

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

Mysore's Water Crisis- What is The Problem?

2011-04-23T06:35:00.000-07:00

Everyone agrees that Mysore is facing a drinking water crisis once again this summer, but no one seems to know exactly why, especially since there is no shortage of water in KRS. To find the answer to this question, MGP tried to meet JUSCO officials, Vani Vilasa Water Works Executive Engineer and Mysore City Corporation Commissioner. It was not difficult to meet JUSCO officials, but meeting the VVWW Executive Engineer and MCC Commissioner was next to impossible. The VVWW Executive Engineer missed appointments after giving them and now both he and the MCC Commissioner have stopped taking calls from us. So what follows is the JUSCO version of why 24x7 supply is being delayed.

According to JUSCO, even though overhead tanks which will supply water to customers in various localities of the city were ready some time ago, Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board and JUSCO could not agree on what type of pumps to use to supply water from the main reservoirs to these overhead tanks and so the water supply to customers is in the same poor state it was last year. It is surprising that the issue of what pumps to employ was not addressed in the JUSCO contract itself. Now finally the choice has been made and it will take at least three months for the pumps to be installed. So water supply will continue to be a problem this summer.

JUSCO also claims that it is not being given sufficient water by VVWW. VVWW claims that is is pumping 190 million liters per day (mld) of which 150 mld is reaching JUSCO. But JUSCO claims that 190 mld is the maximum pumping capacity if every thing works perfectly, but since VVWW pumps are not working at their rated capacity, the actual amount being pumped and the amount that is being received are much less than claimed by VVWW. Since VVWW has not installed meters at the dispatch points at Hongally and Belagola and at the receiving points in the case of Melapura, it is not possible to know for sure how much water is reallyÿ pumped into the city. Unless meters are installed, this disagreement can not be resolved.

There are other areas in which there is lack of proper cooperation between JUSCO and VVWW. While JUSCO has to work with VVWW employees transferred temporarily to them, it does not have the proper management control to get the work done by these employees. This is a basic failure of the terms of the JUSCO contract.

When customers do not get water, JUSCO provides water to them through tanker lorries. 300 such tanker lorries are being used currently on a daily basis. This is a big cost which will be borne by all of us. But the staff of VVWW control the tanker movement. Each tanker generates a revenues of Rs.650 or more. Even if 25% of tankers are diverted, it mean an income of Rs. 1.8 crores per year. With so much money at stake, there is great scope for corruption and JUSCO is not able to control it.

Even if all the problems are resolved and JUSCO is really able to deliver 24x7 water supply, the question still remains of what will happen once the contract period is over and JUSCO hands the water supply system back to VVWW. It is essential that MCC should separate VVWW to form an independent company (like the one in Bangalore) to manage Mysore's water supply. Such a company should be managed on professional lines, recruiting highly qualified staff. A regulatory authority (such as Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Authority in the electrical sector) should be established to monitor the company and fix the tariff after public hearings. Unless we have these institutions to manage water supply on a professional basis, our water crisis will only get worse every year.

Dr. Bhamy V. Shenoy, Prof. R.Chandra Prakash, Maj.Gen. (Rtd.) S.G. Vombatkere, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Provide Mobile Aadhar Service

2011-04-18T10:17:00.000-07:00

Aadhaar scheme aims at providing a unique identification number to all Indians. The pilot programme in Mysore is coming to a close, but nearly half the population is yet to approach an Aadhaar centre. It is not possible for the aged, the infirm and the physically challenged to go to Aadhaar centres and wait. It is also not easy or convenient for many housewives or students either. This is one of the major reasons for the deficient enrollment.

If a significant portion of the population does not get Aadhaar cards, the very purpose of the scheme will be defeated. Therefore the administration must do everything in its power to enable all people to enroll for the UID card. It may consider mobile centres which will go around in the city bringing the service to the very doorstep of the public. Such a move will undoubtedly give a big boost to Aadhaar enrollment.

Vasanthkumar Mysoremath, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Is The Site Cleaning Tax Legal?

2011-04-18T10:16:00.000-07:00

MCC has introduced a new tax on vacant sites from this year. It is being charged at the rate of Rs. 0.50 per sq.ft. and is supposed to go towards keeping the sites free from garbage and weeds. But it appears that such a tax is illegal.

Before 2003, whenever MCC wanted to levy a new tax, it had to pass a resolution to that effect at MCC general meeting, publish the resolution in the official Gazette, obtain objections to the new tax from the public and submit both the resolution and the objections to the State government. The State government had the power to sanction, modify or impose conditions on the resolution. It would then publish its decision in the official Gazette and the tax approved by the State government would be legally in force.

But in 2003, the State government amended the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act. One of the stated objectives of the Act was to give Corporations more power and "to dispense with the sanction of the Government before imposing tax". So Sec. 105 of the Act which gave the State givernment power to change Corporation resolutions was deleted. MCC could now impose any tax they wanted without State government interference.

But while deleting Sec. 105 of the Act, the government also removed Sec. 104 of the Act, which defined how Corporation could levy a new tax. It is not clear if this deletion was intentional or accidental, but the upshot of the removal of Sec. 104 is that now MCC has no legal foundation to levy any tax other than those covered explicitly by the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act. Pre-existing taxes and cesses such as property tax, water tax, advertisement tax, health cess, anti-beggary cess, education cess can continue. Solid waste management cess which was introduced last year is covered explicitly by Sec. 103B and seems to be legal. Sec. 103B also provides for infrastructure tax on vehicles and Sec. 103 provides for an additional stamp duty on property transfers. These taxes can also be legally imposed by MCC.

Since a site cleaning tax is not covered explicitly by the Act, its imposition by MCC seems illegal.

There are some things MCC can do legally to tackle the problem of neglected sites. If a residential site has garbage or weeds on it, MCC can issue a notice to the owner under Sec. 333 of the KMC Act to remove them within 24 hours. If the notice is ignored, it can fine him Rs. 50 under Schedule XI of the Act. If a commercial site has rubbish on it, MCC can issue a notice under Sec. 257 of the KMC Act and can charge him a periodic fee to clear the rubbish.

Dr.T.N. Manjunath, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Calculate Your Property Tax Yourself And Save Money

2011-04-18T10:14:00.000-07:00

It is that time again when all of us have to pay our property tax to MCC. If you get your tax calculated by the people at the MCC zonal offices or use the Property Tax Calculator of the MCC website (which by the way is still not working, with only 14 days left to get the 5% discount), you are certain to pay much more than what you have to really pay.

According to Sec. 109A of the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976, the property tax remains constant for three years and then increases by 15%, then remains constant for three more years and then increases again by 15%, and so on. Once the calculation of property tax is done for any year, it does not have to be done again. Let the value of the site change, let the cost of building change, but you do not have to calculate the tax again. Depreciation is not allowed by the law, and so you do not have to calculate that either. All you have to do is pay the same amount for three years, then increase it by 15% and pay for three more years and so on. Even though the law removes the drudgery of fresh calculation, people still flock to pay Rs. 25-50 to to get their taxes calculated every year. The taxes thus calculated are much higher than what the law demands and so these citizens are suffering a double loss. One of our members who had his tax calculated at the zonal office was told to pay Rs. 3827 when all he had to pay was Rs. 2823.

Here is how you can figure out how much property tax you have to pay this year. This instruction is only for those people who had their tax calculated at a zonal office (or by the Tax Calculator) last year, because we are assuming that people who calculated their own tax last year can do so again this year. We are also assuming that thay have paid the 15% hike in tax last year itself becuase, MCC had issued advertisements in local papers announcing the hike effective from 1-4-10.

Add the total amount paid last year to last year's Solid Waste Management cess. That will be the amount you have to pay this year. The amount to be paid this year is higher because the SWM cess has been doubled this year for properties larger than 1000 sq. ft. The entries in you tax form will be the same, except the SWM cess which is double last year's. If your property is less than 1000 sq. ft., add 3/4 of the SWM cess you paid last year to last year's total amount to obtain the amount you have to pay this year.

By doing this simple addition yourself, you will not only be saving the Rs. 25-50 form filling fee, but you will also save a large amount in the tax paid.

P.M. Bhat, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Supreme Court Comes Down on Land Acquisition

2011-04-12T03:21:00.000-07:00

In recent days, the central and the state governments have sharply accelerated their programmes of acquiring lands from the public for a "public purpose" and giving it to businesses. The creation of SEZs, acquisition of land for NICE infrastructure corridor, acquisition of land for power plants all over the country are all examples. Some recent local examples are acquisition of shops in Makkaji Chowk and giving them to a developer for building a shopping complex and acquisition of farm land for building Infosys campus.

In an important decision given last month on 7-3-2011, the Supreme Court has cast serious doubts on such land acquisitions which are all based on the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. Some salient features of the Supreme Court order are:

1. Land Acquisition Act is a relic from 1894 when the British ruled India. It is not consisitent with the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Indian Constitution. Article 13 of the Constitution mandates that any pre-constitutional law cannot remove or abridge fundamental rights. The Court said that these issues must be borne in mind "when little Indians lose their small property in the name of mindless acquisition at the instance of the State".

2. The Court also said that any attempt by the State to acquire land to benefit a particular group of people at the cost of the interest of a large section of people especially the common people defeats the very concept of "public purpose".

3. The Court said that courts should not remain as passive umpires, but take an active role in land acquisition cases. It could mean that courts should quash acquisition orders which do not have a genuine public purpose.

4. The Court raised the question whether the government can acquire fertile agricultural land when unfertile banjar lands are available. But, surprisingly, it did not answer this question. This question is of relevance to Mysore in both the Infosys case and the Chamalapura thermal power station case.

It appears that SEZs, NICE project, Makkaji Chowk and Infosys campus, none of them meet the test of "public purpose" elucidated by the Supreme Court in its recent order.

G.M. Netaji, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Wake Up, Pollution Control Board!

2011-04-02T22:14:00.000-07:00

Instead of transporting city's garbage to landfills, MCC workers continue to burn garbage on every street. Needless to say, this is causing terrible pollution and releasing dangerous gases such as dioxin into the atmosphere. Since the garbage is piled up next to the nearest compound, the burning also causes disfigurement and damage to the compound. If there is no nearby compound, the garbage is lit next to a roadside tree, causing irreparable damage to the tree.

The Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 came into effect in 2001 itself. All municipal bodies must compulsorily follow these rules. According to Schedule II of the Rules, burning of garbage and dry leaves is forbidden. Any violation of the provision of the MSW Rules, 2000 attracts the penal provision of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. According to Sec. 15 of the Act, each violation of the Rules is punishable with imprisonment of upto five years and/or a fine of upto one lakh rupees, or with both, and in case the violation continues, with additional fine of upto five thousand rupees per day.

Even though these Rules have been in effect for nearly ten years, it is shocking that MCC is still burning garbage. The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board which is in charge of enforcing these Rules should take serious note of the violations and throw the book at MCC officials for their continued callousness.

B.V. Shenoy, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

KRS Road - Ready in 40 Days?

2011-03-31T21:35:00.000-07:00

We happened to be in right place at right time. On 30th March, 2011, we wanted to take a look at the progress of works on the KRS Road from Dasappa Circle up till Vanivilas Water Works. We found Mr.Harsha Gupta, the Deuputy Commissioner and Mr.Raikar,the Municipal Commissioner having a meeting with many other officials nearing the entrance to Medical College Ladies Hostel. There was Sri.Cheluve Gowda, the Executive Engineer, PWD, Sri.D.B.Verma DRM, Railways, Sri.Ravichandran, Executive Engineer, Railways, and Sri.Nataraj, AEW, Vanivilas Water Works, Sr,Subbe Gowda, Executive Engineer, JNNURM; Sri.Venkatesh, who is the contractor for laying water pipeline and UGD works, and Sri. K.V. Chenniah the Railways and PWD contractor who has completed the railways bridge work and is also the contractor for the road work under PWD contract. This was practically all the representatives of every agency involved in the KRS Road Works.

We were witness to the deliberations between the Deputy Commissioner and the representatives present there. The meeting ended with mutual assurances and convincing that in the next 40 days the road works will be completed. The Deputy Commissioner was relieved to learn that the road will be open to public before the onset of the rains.

Since september 2010 we have met practically everyone involved in this project. The facts available with us indicate that the road will not be ready that soon. To our RTI query [20.9.2010] as to why this work, which was to have been completed by Dassara 2010 is not completed so far, the answer given [20.12.2010] by the PWD Executive Engineer was: there was a delay in getting permission to the trees cut. Apart from this, the MCC has not completed the shifting of water pipe line work. After the shifting of water pipe lines the PWD will complete their part of the work within 9 months. And these 9 months were exclusive of rainy season! That means the advent of rainy seasons would further delay PWD work beyond their requirement of 9 months.

It is March 2011 and the railways have completed their railway bridge work and have made their railway lines operational on this new bridge. Within our knowledge the railways have overshot their time-limit by two months and that too due to compulsions of design modifications. This was to facilitate laying of water pipe line and UGD lines on the bridge bed. But the road construction work is languishing. Ironically, the contractor for the railway bridge as also the road construction is one and the same, ie. Sri.K.V.Chenniah!

The road work was taken up under tripartite Contributory Deposit Scheme wherein the State Government, the Railways and the Mysore City Municipal Corporation [MCC] were to contribute funds. From the very beginning there has been lack of coordination between all the agencies involved in this project. MUDA commissioner was made the Coordinating Officer in the initial stages. But for whatever reason no meetings took place. So much so the Railways stopped contacting other agencies and simply concentrated on their part of the bridge work. State government should have released the funds to the CDS which it has not. And the MCC has its own financial crunch and hence could not pay the contractor assigned with the work of shifting water and UGD pipelines.

The contractor who was to complete the shifting of pipelines could not/did not complete his work [even as on 30th March 2011 the work is not completed] because he is not paid for the work already carried out. And the MCC could not pay because the State Govt did not release the funds. And the PWD could not start the road work since the pipeline shifting work has not been completed [see above the RTI reply by the PWD].

And we are to understand that the total amount to be paid to the contractor towards the pipeline shifting is less than Rs.2 Cr.!! This is a proverbial case of for want of a nail the kingdom is lost. As per the rough estimate made by us the cost of detour to be taken by all the vehicles plying should have cost the society about Rs.2.5 Cr and this will keep on piling up till this crucial road link is completed.

We could see that the PWD has taken up the work of constructing the retaining walls, the drainage and cable conduits. But the pace of work is not commensurate with the importance of this road particularly in the light of delays. Interestingly we saw that two wheelers have started using this road as the railway bridge work is complete. Such unchecked traffic will only cause further obstructions in the construction work, apart from damaging the quality of work.

What has surprised us was that it is nearing one year since this road was shut down and only two meetings have been held by the DC. We asked the DC if had any confidence in the deadline of 40 days being kept. He responded that he had only two meetings. Promise made during the first meeting to open the road for traffic during dussera 2010 was kept and he has confidence that they would keep the promises this time also. We did not see any blue print/plan in the hands of any of the officers present there in this meeting. We felt that assurances/responses given to the DC were rather vague. There has been total casual approach in addressing the problems confronting the completion of this crucial road linking two important parts of the city.

We were also told that since the whole project is extremely complex, any delays in completion can be justified. When Delhi metro can be completed meeting the deadline, can K R S Road project be any more complex?

Further, what has been the role of peoples representatives, the MLA, the MP, the Corporators? And above all the Minister in Charge of this District? Why is that people at large are keeping quiet and suffering silently the agony of detours, extra costs? Who should be held accountable for this mess?

We were witness to MCC commissioner giving assurance the contractor in charge of pipeline shifting that some more money will be released to him and asking him to complete his work expeditiously. And we are to understand that many such assurances and requests have lapsed but the every time it is back to square one no release of funds and no progress in the pipeline shifting and no possibility to take up the road laying work!!

Therefore our understanding is that this road will not be ready in the next 40 days, unless people concerned take up the responsibility and made accountable.

Prof. R. Chandra Prakash & Dr. Bhamy V. Shenoy

Can Medical Research Be Trusted?

2011-03-21T22:09:00.000-07:00

Almost every day, we read about the results of a new "scientific study" in the papers. Most of the studies that make it to the headlines are in the field of medical science. Anyone who follows these news stories knows that they contradict each other very often. One day we read that some drug reduces the risk of some disease and some time later we read that another study has found that the same drug increases the risk of the same disease. Which study should we believe? Or the new study may say that the risk of some other disease will increase if we take that drug. If a drug decreases the risk of one disease and increases the risk of another disease, should we take that drug or not? If we believe in the accuracy of these scientific studies, we face such dilemmas constantly. But are these studies accurate? Are they causing us consumers to waste our money?

A recent article "Lies, Damn Lies and Medical Science" in Atlantic magazine focuses on this issue. More exactly, it focuses on Dr. John Ioannidis who is one of the world's foremost experts on the credibility of medical research. Ioannidis and his team have shown repeatedly that much of published medical research which most doctors follow when they prescribe antibiotics or blood-pressure medication, or when they advise us to consume more fiber or less meat, or when they recommend surgery for heart disease or back pain is misleading, exaggerated, and often flat-out wrong. According to Ioannidis, 90% of published medical studies is flawed. Surprisingly, his work has been widely accepted by the medical community and it has been published in the top medical journals. But even though people accept his conclusions, medical research continues to be dogged by serious methodological problems and conflicts of interest and Ioannides is not optimistic that the situation will change for the better in the foreseeable future.

Research studies done with care and objectivity should stand the test of time. But an astonishingly large percentage of medical research is refuted by later findings. Here are some glaring examples. Recent studies have shown that mammograms, colonoscopies and prostate specific antigen (PSA) tests are not very useful for detecting cancer thus contradicting earlier studies. Recent studies have also shown that widely prescribed antidepressants are useless for most cases of depression thus disproving earlier studies. Again, recent studies have shown that staying out of the sun entirely can actually increase cancer risks, drinking lots of water during intense exercise is potentially fatal, taking fish oil, exercising, and doing puzzles do not really help prevent Alzheimer's disease, taking daily doses of aspirin does not really prevent heart attacks, as long claimed. Studies have come to opposite conclusions on whether using cell phones can cause brain cancer, whether vitamin E prevents heart attacks, and whether sleeping more than eight hours a night is healthful or dangerous.

There are many reasons for these contradictions - measurement errors, wrong analysis, bias of the researcher and some times even fraud. We think of the scientific process as being objective and rigorous, but in reality, "At every step in the process, there is room to distort results, a way to make a stronger claim or to select what is going to be concluded. There is an intellectual conflict of interest that pressures researchers to find whatever it is that is most likely to get them funded", according to Dr. Ioannides. Even when a particular research idea is proved wrong beyond a doubt, if there are thousands of scientists who have invested their careers in it, it will not disappear easily.

Research on nutrition is another subject which gets a lot of media attention. But unfortunately, different studies on nutrition come to different conclusions. How should we choose among these contradictory nutritional findings? Dr. Ioannidis suggests a simple approach: ignore them all. The variables are so many that any apparent connection between a food and its effects are in fact merely flukes, not real health effects.

Drug studies are even less reliable than nutritional studies because they have the added corruptive force of financial conflict of interest. Countless drugs which had been found to be safe and effective in large trials have now been removed from the market as unsafe or ineffective, or both.

For the information of consumers, here are some medicines, procedures and changes in diet commonly prescribed by doctors, but which have been contradicted by recent studies. So the consumers should be cautious when these medicines and procedures are recommended, often at a huge cost.

1. Angioplasties are highly recommended for heart attack victims. But after a trial covering 2,166 patients in 27 countries over a period of five years, the National Institutes of Health of America (a group of 27 federal Institutes and Centres in the USA) have announced that late angioplasty after heart attack offers no advantage over standard drug therapy.

2. Recent studies have shown that antibiotics should be taken for much shorter periods than is usually prescribed by doctors.

3. Despite innumerable new cancer drugs and new cancer treatments, cancer survival rate has not increased in the last 55 years. So most cancer drugs and treatments are useless. The slogan "Cancer can be cured" is misleading. Except for some forms of cancer (childhood cancers and testicular cancer), there is no cure once the cancer has spread.

4. Surgery is recommended as a cure for cancer, especially cancerous tumours. But studies have shown that surgery can promote migration of cancer cells to other parts of the body and actually worsen the patient's condition.

5. Following several recent studies, the American Cancer Society, which has always been a staunch defender of cancer screening, has finally admitted that the benefits of detecting many cancers by cancer screening, especially breast and prostate, have been exaggerated and that screening may lead to treatment when there is no need for treatment at all.

6. Recent studies have shown no correlation between saturated oils (such as coconut oil) and heart disease. Other studies have shown that in selected populations, the incidence of heart disease (and diabetes) increased after the consumption of traditional oils such as coconut oil decreased and the consumption of the so called good oils (e.g. sunflower oil and safflower oil) increased.

7. Recent studies have shown that taking daily aspirin to prevent heart attacks could do more harm than good.

C.V.Nagaraj, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

MGP Celebrates World Consumer Day

2011-03-13T09:01:00.000-07:00

March 15th is World Consumer Day. To celebrate it, Mysore Grahakara Parishat is holding a consumer awareness program for the public from 10 AM to 5 PM on Tuesday, 15-3-11. MGP has been conducting such programmes for the last 22 years in various parts of Mysore. This year, the programme will be held in Hinkal in front of Shaneshwara temple by the side of Mysore-Hunsur road.

In this programme, MGP members will be giving demo-exhibitions on subjects such as detection of food adulteration, making water potable, etc. Advice will be given on how to solve consumer problems. Booklets on consumer, environmental and civic issues published by MGP will be available to the public.

The public is invited to participate in the programme in large numbers and make use of the opportunity.

D.V. Dayanand Sagar, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Revision Of Guideline Values Will Not Increase Property Taxes

2011-03-11T19:53:00.000-08:00

The Karnataka Commissioner of Stamps and Inspector General of Registration has announced that a revision of guidance values of property values all over Karnataka is under way. According to him, there is a huge gap between the market value (land value and building value) of properties and the guidance value in major cities of Karnataka. The government proposes to set right this anomaly by increasing the guidance values. It has been reported in the media that the guidance values will be increased by 25-50% and this will result in a corresponding increase in property taxes.

But a hike in the guidance values of existing urban properties will not increase their property tax. Sec. 109A of the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976 which governs increase in property tax says:

109A. Enhancement of property tax.- Notwithstanding anything contained in section 108 and 109 the property tax assessed and levied under either provision shall not be assessed each year thereafter but shall stand enhanced by 15 percent once in every three years commencing from the financial year 2005-2006:

Provided that the Municipal Corporation may enhance such property tax upto 30 percent once in three years and different rates of enhancement may be made to different areas and different classes of buildings and lands:

Provided further that the non assessment of property tax under this section during the block period of three years shall not be applicable to a building in respect of which there is any addition, alteration or variation to it.

Provided also that nothing contained in this section shall be deemed to affect the power of State Government to direct an earlier revision of property tax.

It is clear from the wording that property tax is enhanced by 15% in the years 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017, ... It can not be enhanced by any other amount just because property guideline values are enhanced. So the present revision of guideline values will have no effect on existing properties. The only enhancement of the tax is the 15% hike that is due this year.

P.M. Bhat, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

MGP Member Nominated To The Electricity Consumers Forum

2011-03-03T19:30:00.000-08:00

Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission has nominated Maj.Gen.(Rtd.) S.G. Vombatkere of Mysore Grahakara Parishat to the Chamundeshwari Electric Supply Corporation Consumer Grievances Redressal Forum (CGRF). He will serve on the Forum for a period of three years.

WHAT IS CGRF?

CGRF is a forum set up for speedy resolution of consumer problems related to electricity supply. It is quite similar to the consumer fora set up under the Consumer Protection Act, but CGRF is limited to deficiency in service by Chamundeshwari Electric Supply Corporation only. It has three members, two (in general) from CESC and the third from a recognized consumer organization. Billing problems, defective meters, delays in providing service, voltage fluctuations, etc, all come within the purview of the CGRF. Only cases in which the consumer is charged with stealing power or tampering with the meter and cases in which there is injury or loss of life due to an electric accident are not covered by CGRF.

If a consumer has any problems with deficiency of service in supply of electricity, he has to first approach CESC to get the problem resolved. If he does not succeed, he can complain to the CGRF. There is no fee for filing a complaint with the CGRF and one does not need to hire an advocate. The consumer or a person authorized by the consumer can argue the case before the forum. CGRF is required to settle all consumer disputes within 60 days. Its orders are binding on CESC.

CESC is supposed to provide all the details about CGRF on its website, but it has not done so yet.

Sreemathi Hariprasad, President, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Photos from the March 2011 issue of Grahaka Patrike

2011-03-03T19:26:00.000-08:00

(D.V. Dayanand Sagar)

MCC is permitting mobile towers to come up on residential and other buildings without caring for the objections of neighbours. Erecting mobile towers on residential buildings is a clear violation of zoning laws.

(B.V. Shenoy)

As part of the Save Electricity Campaign launched by CESC, Vasanthkumar Mysoremath of MGP showed students several simple ways of saving power.

(D.V. Dayanand Sagar)

C.V. Nagaraj of MGP was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by Bhramara Trust recently.

(B.V. Shenoy)

The Council of Architecture, New Delhi (a statutory body set up to regulate architects in the country) has found the architect of this apartment building in Mysore guilty of professional misconduct for issuing a completion certificate when the building was far from completion.

(B.V. Shenoy)

Mysore City Corporation can not issue CRs for apartment buildings having five (1+4) floors or more or taller than 15 meters without a No Objection Certificate from the Fire Services Department. But most apartment buildings do not have this NOC.

(B.V. Shenoy)

Till recently, 5 floors was the upper limit for apartment buildings in Mysore. But now, higher number of floors (some as hogh as 14) are being permitted. Such large buildings put a severe strain on the infrastructure (water supply, sewage drains, traffic density, etc.) of the city.

(B.V. Shenoy)

There have been complaints that several apartment buildings have built an additional floor after obtaining the Completion Report from Mysore City Corporation. But the Corporation does not appear to be taking any action on these complaints.

Can Hotels Charge More Than The "Maximum Retail Price" ?

2011-02-23T08:40:00.000-08:00

In a recent judgment (I(2011) CPJ 13 NC), The National Consumer Commission has upheld the order of Bharuch (Gujrat) District Forum imposing a fine on Hotel Nyay Mandir for having charged more than the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) on some soft drinks. While the decision of the National Commission is to be welcomed from the point of view of the consumer, unfortunately, it goes against an order of the Supreme Court.

This order of the Supreme Court order (State of Himachal Pradesh Vs. Associated Hotels of India, AIR 1972 SC 1131) given in 1972 makes MRP applicable only to retail sales, i.e., goods sold in shops. So food and drinks consumed in hotels, restaurants or airplanes may be sold at prices above the MRP. The Supreme Court held that such food and drinks can not be considered retail sales since they are always accompanied by service.

It appears that most consumer courts are not aware of this order, because they keep awarding compensation against hotels and restaurants which sell packaged commodities in excess of MRP. In one such case (II(2007) CPJ 96), The Delhi State Consumer Commission imposed huge punitive damages of Rs. 50,000 on a restaurant serving mineral water to its customers at three times the MRP. Local consumer courts have also given similar judgments in recent cases. But all these orders are against the Supreme Court order and are liable to be struck down.

But the situation is even worse. The laws related to MRP have been carelessly drafted and so, strictly speaking, even shops which sell above MRP can not be punished.

Most people believe that the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) printed on packaged commodities is beneficial to the consumers. They believe that the commodities can not be sold above the MRP and so printing of MRP prevents exploitation of consumers. Therefore, it is sad that defective drafting of the laws have made MRP a meaningless number.

The laws related to MRP are in the process of being changed. Let us see why both the present laws and the new laws are defective.

PRESENT LAWS:

Right now, MRP is governed by the Standards of Weights and Measures Act, 1976 and the Standards of Weights and Measures (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 1977 made under Sec. 83 of the Act to carry out its provisions. Sec. 39 of the Act states that no commodity shall be sold in package form if the package does not have the price printed on it. A fine of upto Rs. 5000 and a prison term of upto 5 years is prescribed in Sec. 63 of the Act for not printing the price on the package. But the Act does not forbid selling a packaged commodity for a price higher than the printed price, much less fix a penalty for selling above the printed price.

Sec. 23(2) of the Rules prohibits the retail sale of any packaged commodity at a price higher than the printed MRP.

There are several Supreme Court orders which prescribe the limits of Rules made under an Act. They all say that Rules cannot extend the boundaries of the Act under which they have been made (e.g. Bharathidasan University Vs. All-India Council for Technical Education, (2001) 8 SCC 767). In the present case, the Standards of Weights and Measures Act only mandates that the price be printed on the package whereas the Rules go impermissibly further by stipulating that price charged can not exceed the printed price. Therefore, this part of the Rules is invalid. In other words, there is no limit on the price charged! Not printing MRP attracts punishment, but not selling above MRP. MRP becomes just a fiction.

It is amazing that the legal experts and bureaucrats who draft legislation are ignorant of such legal basics. They should have included the prohibition of charging a price higher than the printed price in the Act itself and not just in the Rules. By not doing it, they have negated the very purpose of MRP.

NEW LAWS:

It seems that the legal experts and bureaucrats do not learn from their past mistakes either. The Legal Metrology Act, 2009 which is replacing the Standards of Weights and Measures Act, 1976, and The Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011 which will replace he Standards of Weights and Measures (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 1977 will come into force on 1-3-2011. But they are also badly drafted and the same problems which exist with the present laws exist with the new laws also. Sec. 36 of the Act prescribes a penalty of Rs. 25,000 for selling a packaged commodity which does not conform to the declarations on the package, but it appears that the nonconformity refers only to weight, number, etc. and not to the price. So there is no explicit prohibition of sale above the MRP. But Sec. 18 of the Rules prohibits the retail sale of any packaged commodity at a price higher than the printed MRP. So the situation is very similar to the present laws and again, not printing MRP attracts punishment, but not selling above MRP.

Unless the parliament fixes this lacuna, MRP will continue to remain a paper tiger and not benefit any consumer.

P.M.Bhat, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Consumer Protection Regulations

2011-02-21T02:15:00.000-08:00

Consumer Protection Act was enacted to provide the common man a fast and inexpensive way of obtaining justice in consumer disputes. Consumer courts were meant to be very informal, (unlike the regular courts) where consumers could argue their cases themselves. They did not have to know a great deal about law and could argue (and win!) based only on common sense.

But this intent was not properly communicated to the judges who were appointed to the consumer courts. Since the presiding judges were appointed to consumer courts after long stints as judges in the regular courts, they tended to continue the same formalities and very soon consumer courts became the same as civil courts. One case in Mysore District Consumer Forum took 6 years and 105 adjournments to decide. This was despite the fact that the CPA states that adjournments should not be ordinarily granted and cases should be decided as far as possible within 90 days.

There are numerous judgments of the higher consumer courts which are binding on the lower consumer courts, but they are routinely ignored. For example, the National Consumer Commission has repeatedly ruled (e.g., III (1996) CPJ 77 (NC)) that an appeal can not be dismissed without entering into the merits of the case merely on the ground that the appellant was not present when the case was taken up for hearing. But State Consumer Commissions ignore this ruling routinely, to the detriment of the consumers.

Observing that many of its directives were being ignored by lower consumer courts, the National Consumer Commission codified them in the Consumer Protection Regulations, 2005 which were gazetted on 31-5-2005 . It is not clear if all consumer courts are aware of these Regulations because they are also being violated very often. As a result, consumer courts have become regular courts with too much emphasis on formalities. It has become very difficult for a common man to argue his case before consumer courts. He is being forced to hire lawyers. This goes against the very purpose of the Consumer Protection Act, namely, providing speedy, inexpensive and simple redressal to consumer disputes.

Here is a sample of Consumer Protection Regulations which are being commonly flouted by consumer courts:

1. Sec. 11(1) of the Regulations mandates that all proceedings before consumer courts are conducted as expeditiously as possible and as per the requirements of the CPA. But adjournments are commonly given and cases frequently take more than 3 months to decide.

2. To discourage adjournments, Sec. 11(3) of the Regulations mandates that the party asking for an adjournment has to pay a minimum of Rs. 500 as costs. But this is not being enforced in many cases. If the costs are imposed, the opposite party is not getting a part of it in many cases.

3. Sec. 13(1) of the Regulations mandates that all arguments should be as brief as possible and to the point at issue. This is not being uniformly enforced leading to avoidable delays. According to Sec. 13(3) of the Regulations, advocates have to file their briefs two days before the hearing, failing which they should be fined a minimum of Rs. 500. This is rarely enforced again leading to delays.

4. Sec. 18(5) of the Regulations mandates that all orders of a consumer court should be short and precise. But consumer courts often give lengthy orders which take valuable time to prepare.

5. Sec. 26(1) of the Regulations strongly recommends that provisions of Civil Procedure Code should be avoided. But many consumer courts still insist on the formalities of CPC making it very difficult for non-lawyers who wish to argue their own cases and also causing delays.

Thus despite all efforts by the parliament, the government and even the National Consumer Commission to make consumer courts more consumer-friendly, this goal is still far from being realized.

C.V. Nagaraj, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Open Chamber, No Warning Flag

2011-02-17T06:42:00.000-08:00

This chamber is at the intersection of High Tension Double Road and Snake Shyam Road in Vijayanagar II Stage. It has been kept open for the last one month. It is more than eight feet deep, partly filled with water. It is a new chamber constructed by Nagarjuna Construction Co., to give 24-hour water supply to citizens. There are no red flags to warn during day time and no red lights to warn during night.

Also the primary water pipe itself is open with a 1'x1' hole for fixing valve. Dead animals, garbage and anything may enter the water supply pipes now and we drink the same water after the scheme is commissioned. We request the concerned officers to see that something is done.

Gangaprasad, Member, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Thanks to SOM, DH and CESC

2011-02-16T00:54:00.000-08:00

We had written about the delay of Chamundeshwari Electric Supply Company in repairing a broken electric pole in Yadavagiri. The day after it was published in SOM (Voice of The Reader, 10-2-11) and in Deccan Herald (11-2-11), CESC workers came and replaced the broken pole. The residents of Yadavagiri thank SOM and CESC for solving the problem.

B.Vaikunth Shenoy, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

CESC's Irresponsibility Poses Danger To Public

2011-02-11T04:48:00.000-08:00

Ten days ago a tipper truck rammed into an electric pole at the intersection of 1st Main and 2nd Cross in Yadavagiri, breaking the pole at the bottom (Photo 1). The force of the impact broke the adjoining electric pole at the top (Photo 2). It appears that these poles are standing only because of the wires connecting them to the surrounding poles.

Chamundeshwari Electric Supply Company was contacted by some of the neighbours and a CESC van came immediately. The staff told the person in charge of the tipper (which was removing earth from the neighbouring construction site) that he would have to pay Rs. 25000 for the damage. Hearing this figure, the person promptly disappeared with his excavator and tippers. The damaged poles are still standing there posing grave danger to passersby.

Why CESC is not installing new poles even after 10 days is beyond comprehension. It should do so immediately to prevent danger to life and property. Afterwards, it can initiate proceedings against the operator of the tipper for the cost of the new poles.

B.Vaikunth Shenoy, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Mobile Towers and The Law

2011-02-07T08:38:00.000-08:00

Mobile towers are being erected on houses and other buildings all over the city and MCC is permitting them without caring for the complaints of neighbours. What can the neighbours do about them? Here is the current legal position.

There are two Karnataka government circulars on the basis of which MCC is permitting mobile towers on buildings in Mysore. The first circular (No. UDD 17 Aa Pra Sa 2001) issued on 12-11-2001, instructs local bodies to permit mobile towers on terraces of residential and commercial buildings subject to the following conditions:

1. The company has the requisite licence from the Government of India,

2. Generators will not be installed on rooftops,

3. Zonal regulations are not violated,

4. The company furnishes a certificate from a registered engineer regarding the stability of the structure.

5. The company furnishes a certificate from a competent authority that the noise produced by the generator is within permissible limits,

6. Since establishment of a mobile tower is a commercial activity, the company pays the local body fees prescribed for commercial use.

This circular is self-contradictory. On the one hand, it says that establishment of a mobile tower is a commercial activity and that zonal regulations should not be violated. On the other hand, it instructs the local bodies to permit mobile towers on residential buildings. Establishing commercial mobile towers on residential buildings is a clear violation of zonal regulations.

The government issued another circular NaAI 55 GEL 2005 on 2-3-2005 in which it relaxed the above conditions. In this circular, it instructed local bodies to permit mobile towers and their equipment anywhere subject to the following revised conditions:

1. Public safety is the responsibility of the company,

2. Any taxes levied by the local bodies must be paid,

3. Other lawful rules are obeyed.

This is the circular under which MCC is giving permission to mobile towers on all types of buildings all over the city.

The second circular is also self-contradictory since it says that all other lawful rules should be obeyed and still instructs local bodies to permit towers on residential and public buildings as well as on private lands. But zonal regulations made under Town and Country Planning Act, 1961 does not allow mobile towers which are commercial buildings on residential or CA (public buildings) sites.

Mobile towers established on residential or CA sites can be challenged in courts because they violate zonal regulations. It is learnt that some challenges are already before the courts.

Here is one recent legal development. The revised circular, unlike the first one, does not explicitly prohibit the installation of generators on rooftops. So MCC has been allowing such installations. A resident of Brindavan has been fighting the installation of a generator on a rooftop next to his house, using the Right to Information Act. His argument was that the revised circular only allows the tower and its equipment to be installed. Generator is not a part of the tower equipment and so the condition banning generators on rooftops contained in the first circular is not overturned by the second circular. When his complaint against MCC came up before the State Information Commission, the Commission agreed with his contention and ordered (Case Nos. KIC 11545 cw 11373 and 11374 PTN 2009 decided finally on 3-9-10) ordered MCC Commissioner to ensure that orders prohibiting the installation of generators on rooftops is implemented. The generator has now been removed.

So anyone bothered by generators installed on neighbouring rooftops can approach MCC and get them removed quoting this decision. If it does not work, he should file a police complaint or a complaint with the State Human Rights Commission.

Dr. T.N. Manjunath, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Down The Drain?

2011-02-07T01:38:00.000-08:00

Storm water drains are being constructed in Mysore at enormous expense with JNNURM funds. One such drain passes next to Dhobi Ghat in Yadavagiri. According to the board next to the drain, this work which costs Rs. 29 crores was finished on 20-1-2011. Not even two weeks have elapsed since the completion, but the floor of the drain is covered with weeds some of them more than 4-5 feet high (See photo). If the work had been done properly, could so much vegetation have grown in such a short time? Or we could be mistaken and this is actually an urban forestry project!

B.Vaikunth Shenoy, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Photos and Captions, February 2011

2011-01-29T22:13:00.000-08:00

(B.V.Shenoy)

To mark National Consumer Day (24-12-10), MGP organized a Jatha from K.R. Circle to DC's Office where a memorandum urging immediate action against food adulteration and contamination of drinking water was submitted.

(Vasanthkumar Mysoremath)

At the National Seminar on Toxicology held in Mysore on 4-12-10, C.V. Nagaraj gave an invited talk on poison adulterants in food.

Responding to MGP's urging, MCC COmmissioner has issued a notice to the staff of Mysore City Corporation instructing them to keep the identity of whistle-blowers confidential.

(Sri Shaneswara Vidyasamsthe)

At the 20th anniversary of Sri Shaneswara Vidyasamsthe in T.K.Layout, Vasanthkumar Mysoremath of MGP (2nd from left) was the chief guest. He spoke on the consumer movement.

Complaint to Council of Architecture

2011-01-29T21:58:00.000-08:00

This is with reference to the letter "Apartment Buyers Beware" which appeared in Star of Mysore of 23-1-11. In that letter Sri. K.N. Krishna Prasad has suggested that complaints against architects who bend the rules and defraud consumers should be filed before the Council of Architecture.

Such a case has been filed, but the results are not encouraging. One may recall that Siddhartha Youth Association held a press conference on 16-4-06 and accused the then MCC Commissioner, A.B. Ibrahim and the Deputy Director of Town Planning Kempaiah of issuing a CR on 16-3-06 to Brigade Splendour apartment building on Lalit Mahal Road even though the building had not yet been completed and several building bylaws had been violated in the portions that had been completed. The press conference was widely covered in the local media, but MCC did nothing to correct the lapse.

But the Council of Architecture, New Delhi which is a statutory body set up to regulate architects in the country issued a show cause notice to Asima Shahid (of Venkataramanan Associates, Bangalore), the architect who had given the certificate on 2-3-06 based on which MCC had issued the CR to Brigade Splendour. In the certificate, Ms. Shahid had stated that the construction of the building had been COMPLETED under her supervision and that no building bylaws had been violated. She had also stated that the residential building was fit for use and had requested MCC to issue the CR. But reports in the local media in Mysore had made it clear that the building was not complete even on 16-4-06, the day of the press conference.

After conducting hearings on the matter (in which the architect failed to appear despite notices from the Council), the Council gave its verdict on 25-11-10 in which it held the architect guilty of professional misconduct under Regulation 2(1)(viii) and (x) of the Architects (Professional Misconduct) Regulations, 1989 for issuing incorrect architect's report for the building. As punishment, it cautioned the architect "with further direction to ensure that this act is not repeated."

It is very surprising that the Council just cautioned the architect, especially when she did not appear for any of the hearings and did not submit any statement of defence or of contrition. In the past, the Council has revoked architects' licences for professional misconduct. In 2009, it revoked for a period of one year, the licence of a well-known Delhi architect, Hafiz Contractor for appearing in a commercial (But this order was stayed by the Delhi High Court since the Council had not issued a show cause notice to the architect and afforded him a chance to defend himself). Is appearing in a commercial more serious misconduct than giving a false certificate?

B.V.Shenoy, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Is One More Expensive Survey Needed?

2011-01-22T21:56:00.000-08:00

Rajiv Chawla, Commissioner of Survey, Settlement and Land Records of Karnataka Government recently announced in Mysore that all properties in Mysore will be surveyed under the Urban Property Ownership Records (UPOR) project to make a GIS database.

Mysore City Corporation has recently completed, at great expense, the survey of all properties in Mysore and the creation of a GIS database. Why are two arms of the state government spending huge amounts to do the same job twice?

MUDA has its own records of properties in Mysore. These records do not agree with MCC records. In all probability, the UPOR database will not agree with either of these. Then we will have 3 mutually conflicting databases which will create confusion all around.

The survey under UPOR project has been farmed out to a private operator under the Public-Private Partnership model. Recent experiences with this model (Voter Photo ID, MCC property survey, Aadhaar card, etc.) does not inspire one with great confidence that the job will be well done. This is because the private operator hires people with no experience in doing this type of work and these novices are given three days training and sent to do the job. That is why so many mistakes happen. People are still trying to get errors in the their Voter photo ID and MCC property data corrected. Problems with Aadhaar cards are just now trickling in.

C.V.Nagaraj, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Filling Tyres With Nitrogen

2011-01-17T21:36:00.000-08:00

Getting tyres filled with nitrogen is the latest automotive fad. Vendors of nitrogen are promising longer tyre life, less frequent refilling, lower fuel consumption and more comfort. They also point to aircraft and racing cars which use nitrogen in their tyres. Lured by these claims, thousands of automobile owners are getting their tyres inflated with nitrogen for Rs 25-60 per tyre. But are these claims really true?

When one checks expert opinion (here and here ), it appears that these claims are either not true or misleading.

Using nitrogen gives longer life to tyres in principle because nitrogen does not corrode rubber, but tyres would be worn out before this benefit can be realized. Nitrogen also requires less refilling, but if the cost of nitrogen is factored in, this is not a big advantage. If tyre pressure is maintained at the recommended pressure, nitrogen does not reduce fuel consumption or give a more comfortable ride. The reference to aircraft and racing cars is misleading. Modern aircraft fly at about 30000 feet where the surrounding temperature can be as low as -60 degrees. If aircraft tyres are filled with air, the moisture and carbon dioxide in the air freeze at these low temperatures and this will greatly decrease the tyre pressure. The reduction in the tyre pressure due to freezing of moisture and carbon dioxide and ice chunks rolling around in the tyres are dangerous when the planes land. Cars running on streets do not have this problem and so nitrogen offers no benefit. Similarly, race car tyres have to be filled in in the shortest possible time and this can be better done with nitrogen stored in high pressure cylinders than with pumping air with mechanical pumps. Ordinary cars again do not have this problem.

The three largest tyre companies in the world, Michelin, Bridgestone and Goodyear support the use of nitrogen in tyres only because nitrogen-filled tyres retain pressure for longer periods. They do not claim any other benefits from nitrogen filling. As said earlier, if the cost of nitrogen is factored in, this is not a big advantage.

In the US, nitrogen filling is a tremendously profitable business taking into consideration the low cost of equipment and nitrogen compared to the cost at which nitrogen filling is done. So many experts feel that promotion of nitrogen is just a marketing gimmick.

Automobile users are advised to look carefully at arguments on both sides of the issue before going regularly for nitrogen filling.

P.M. Bhat, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Welcome Move By MCC

2011-01-13T06:33:00.000-08:00

If anyone complains to any government department on a violation of the law, the department usually issues a notice to the offender saying that such and such a person has complained against him. Disclosing the name and address of the complainant to the offender frequently results in threats to the complainant. Therefore, many people, even if they notice a violation every day and are affected by it prefer to keep quiet rather than face threats. This is one of the main reasons for the ever increasing number of violations of the law.

Such a situation existed till now in Mysore City Corporation. When people brought to the notice of MCC staff violations (such as building bylaw violations, encroachment of public land, stray dogs and cattle, etc.) which the staff should have noticed by themselves and taken action, their names were released to the offender and the complainants made to suffer. MGP had raised this issue with many MCC Commissioners, but no one took action. But the present Commissioner of MCC has reacted favourably and issued a notice to his subordinates. Copy of the notice is enclosed as an Attachment. It says

"The public give complaints to MCC about violations of the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, especially, violations of building bylaws. When such complaints are received, it is necessary in the interest of good administration to maintain secrecy and you are hereby instructed not to disclose the name and address of the complainants. Any violation of this instruction will be considered seriously."

This action of the MCC Commissioner is welcome

Laws protecting the identity of persons who complain against violations of the law exist in all developed countries. Even in our country, such a bill (Public Interest Disclosure and Protection to Persons Making The Disclosures Bill) was introduced in the parliament on 26-8-10. If the bill is passed and becomes a law, all government staff must keep the identity of persons complaining against law violations a secret, otherwise they will be punished.

Dr.T.N. Manjunath, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Apartment buildings and Completion Reports

2011-01-06T00:56:00.000-08:00

Every proposed building in Mysore must get its building plan approved by Mysore City Corporation before construction can begin. MCC is supposed to verify that no building bylaws are being violated in the plan before issuing the building licence. After construction, the building has to obtain a Completion Report from MCC, otherwise, they can not be occupied (according to law). The CR is supposed to act as a guarantee that the building has been constructed without deviating from the approved plan. The architect of the building has to certify that the building has been built according to the plan and MCC is supposed to verify this certificate before issuing the CR.

CRs are especially important to apartment builders. Most apartments are sold before they are constructed and so the buyers have to depend on the building plan to decide whether to buy or not. That is why CRs are important. They are a certificate issued by MCC that the apartment has been built without deviating from the building plan.

But there are innumerable instances in which the building deviates significantly from the approved plan, but the architect has certified that there is no deviation from the plan and MCC has issued a CR without verifying the architect's certificate. Therefore, buyers have to be aware of the fact that a CR from MCC is no guarantee that the building has been constructed according to the approved plan.

In a recent judgment (given on 10-2-09), the National Consumer Commission upheld the order of the Mysore District Consumer Forum ordering Brigade Developers Pvt. Ltd. to pay damages for such deviation from the plan of an apartment building.

P.M. Bhat, who had bought an apartment in the Brigade Retreat building constructed on Adi Pampa Road, V.V.Puram, by Brigade Developers had complained that the approved plan for the building showed that the height of the ceiling from the floor as 2.85 m, but the actual height was only 2.65 m. This violated not only the approved plan but also the National Building Code of India 1970, which mandates 2.75 m as the minimum ceiling height. Bhat had complained that the builders had made illegal profit by reducing the height of the floor. The Forum agreed that this was a deficiency in service and ordered Brigade Developers Pvt. Ltd. to pay the complainant Rs. 25,000 to meet the financial loss suffered by him due to this substandard construction. The Forum awarded an additional Rs. 75,000 compensation to the complainant noting that "...the complainant and his family members are forced to reside in such building for their entire life with lesser ventilation. This defect and deficiency can not be removed by any means." The architect of the building had certified that the building had been built according to plan and MCC had issued a CR without verifying the accuracy of his certificate. Consumers like P.M. Bhat ended with substandard apartments because they trusted the architect's report and the CR issued by MCC.

Now it appears that apartment builders and the architects are getting bolder. They are certifying that apartment buildings have been built according to plan much before the building is completed and MCC is issuing Completion Reports to these buildings even though they are nowhere close to completion. Therefore, prospective buyers of apartments should not rely on CRs, but instead carefully inspect the apartment to make sure it is built according to the sanctioned plan.

There are also cases in which additional floors have been built after obtaining the CR. These floors are obviously illegal. Therefore, buyers have to carefully compare the sanctioned plan, the CR and the actual construction to make sure they are not buying an illegal apartment.

An interesting case in which an architect gave a certificate of completion to an apartment building in Mysore which was still being built and got caught has come to light recently. One may recall that Siddhartha Youth Association held a press conference on 16-4-06 and accused the then MCC Commissioner, A.B. Ibrahim and the Deputy Director of Town Planning Kempaiah of issuing a CR on 16-3-06 to Brigade Splendour apartment building on Lalit Mahal Road even though the building had not yet been completed and several building bylaws had been violated in the portions that had been completed. The press conference was widely covered in the local media, but MCC did nothing to correct the lapse.

But the Council of Architecture, New Delhi which is a statutory body set up to regulate architects in the country issued a show cause notice to Asima Shahid (of Venkataramanan Associates, Bangalore), the architect who had given the certificate on 2-3-06 based on which MCC had issued the CR to Brigade Splendour. In the certificate, Ms. Shahid had stated that the construction of the building had been COMPLETED under her supervision and that no building bylaws had been violated. She had also stated that the residential building was fit for use and had requested MCC to issue the CR. But reports in the local media in Mysore had made it clear that the building was not complete even on 16-4-06, the day of the press conference.

After conducting hearings on the matter (in which the architect failed to appear despite notices from the Council), the Council gave its verdict on 25-11-10 in which it held the architect guilty of professional misconduct under Regulation 2(1)(viii) and (x) of the Architects (Professional Misconduct) Regulations, 1989 for issuing incorrect architect's report for the building. As punishment, it cautioned the architect "with further direction to ensure that this act is not repeated."

It is very surprising that the Council just cautioned the architect, especially when she did not appear for any of the hearings and did not submit any statement of defence or of contrition. In the past, the Council has revoked architects' licences for professional misconduct. In 2009, it revoked for a period of one year, the licence of a well-known Delhi architect, Hafiz Contractor for appearing in a commercial (But this order was stayed by the Delhi High Court since the Council had not issued a show cause notice to the architect and afforded him a chance to defend himself). Is appearing in a commercial more serious misconduct than giving a false certificate?

B.Vaikunth Shenoy, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

ಮಾಸಲು ಬಟ್ಟೆಯವರಿಗೆ ಕಿತ್ತು ಹೋದ ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ ಸಾರಿಗೆ ಸೇವೆ

2011-01-04T23:03:00.000-08:00

(Please click here for the English Version)

ಇದು ನಮ್ಮ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ರಸ್ತೆ ಸಾರಿಗೆ ಸ೦ಸ್ಥೆಯ ಜನಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ ಗ್ರಾಹಕರಿಗೆ ಕೊಟ್ಟಿರುವ ಉಡುಗೆ. ತಾ: ೧-೧-೧೧ ರಂದು ಮಾರ್ಗ ಸ೦ಖ್ಯೆ ೨೫೫ನ್ನು ಹತ್ತಿ ಮೈಸೂರಿನ ಸಮೀಪದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಬರದನಪುರ ಹಳ್ಳಿಗೆ ಹೋದಾಗ ಅನುಭವಿಸಿದ ದಾರುಣ ಕಥೆ.

ಬೆ: ೯ ಘಂಟೆಗೆ ವಾಹನ ಸ೦ಖ್ಯೆ ಕೆಏ-೦೧-ಎಫ್-೭೭೮೮ನ್ನು ಹತ್ತಿದಾಗ ವಾಕರಿಕೆ ಬರಿಸುವಂಥ ವಾಸನೆ ನನ್ನ ಮೂಗಿಗೆ ಬಡಿಯಿತು,ಸೂಕ್ಷ್ಮವಾಗಿ ಗಮನಿಸಿದಾಗ ಹಿ೦ದಿನ ಆಸನಗಳ ಹತ್ತಿರ ಮಣ್ಣು ಹರಡಿರುವುದು ಕಾಣಿಸಿತು. ಅದರ ಅರ್ಥ ಮತ್ತು ಅದರಿ೦ದ ಆಗುವ ಅನರ್ಥಗಳನ್ನು ನೀವೇ ಊಹಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಿ. ತಕ್ಷಣ ಇಳಿದು ಅದರ ಹಿ೦ದಿದ್ದ ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ವಾಹನವನ್ನು ಹತ್ತಿ ನೋಡಿದಾಗ ಆ ವಾಹನವೂ ಹೆಚ್ಹು ಕಡಿಮೆ ಅಷ್ಟೇ ಕೊಳಕಾಗಿದ್ದುದು ಕಂಡು ಬಂತು ಮತ್ತು ಅದು ಯಾವಾಗ ಹೊರಡುವುದು ಎನ್ನುವ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಕೊಡುವವರು ಯಾರೂ ಇರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಆ ಮಾರ್ಗದಲ್ಲಿ ವೋಲ್ವೋ ಅಥವಾ ಮ್ಯಕ್ರೋಪೋಲೋ ಎಂದಿಗೂ ಓಡಾಡುವುದಿಲ್ಲ ಎ೦ಬುದು ಬೇರೆ ಪ್ರಯಾಣಿಕರಿಂದ ತಿಳಿದು ಬ೦ತು. ಹೀಗಾಗಿ ಮತ್ತೆ ೭೭೮೮ ನ್ನೇ ಹತ್ತಬೇಕಾದ ಅನಿವಾರ್ಯವಾಯಿತು. 'ಹಿರಿಯ ನಾಗರೀಕರಿಗೆ' ಮೀಸಲು ಆಸನವನ್ನು ನೋಡಿದಾಗ ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಓರ್ವ ರೈತ ಬಾಂಧವ ಮೂಟೆಯೊಂದಿಗೆ ಕೂತಿರುವುದು ಕಾಣಿಸಿತು. ಖಾಲಿ ಇದ್ದ ಆಸನದಲ್ಲಿ ಮೂಗಿಗೆ ಕೈವಸ್ತ್ರವನ್ನು ಹಿಡಿದು ಕೂತು ಕಣ್ಣು ಹಾಯಿಸಿದಾಗ ಕಂಡ ದೃಶ್ಯಗಳು. ಕಿಟಕಿಗಳ ಗಾಜುಗಳು ಒಡೆದಿದ್ದವು, ಗಾಳಿ, ಧೂಳನ್ನು ತಡೆಯಲು ರಟ್ಟುಗಳನ್ನು ಸಿಕ್ಕಿಸಲಾಗಿತ್ತು, ಗಾಜುಗಳು ಧೂಳು ಮತ್ತು ಯಾರೋ ಮಾಡಿದ ವಾಂತಿಯ ತುಣುಕುಗಳು ಒಣಗಿ ಅಂಟಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದುದು ಕಾಣುತ್ತಿತ್ತು, ಕಬ್ಬಿಣದ ಸಲಾಕೆಗಳು ಮುರಿದಿದ್ದವು ಮತ್ತು ಅವುಗಳು ಮಾಡುವ ಸದ್ದನ್ನು ತಡೆಯಲು ದಾರ ಕಟ್ಟಲಾಗಿತ್ತು, ಆಸನಗಳು ಹರಿದಿದ್ದವು, ವಾಹನದ ತುಂಬ ಧೂಳು ತಾ೦ಡವವಾಡುತ್ತಿತ್ತು, ನಿರ್ವಾಹಕ ಇರಲಿಲ್ಲ, ವಾಹನ ಚಾಲಕರದ್ದೆ ದರ್ಬಾರು, ಹಿ೦ದಿನ ಬಾಗಿಲು ಮುಚ್ಚಲಾಗುತ್ತಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ, ಪ್ರತಿ ನಿಲ್ದಾಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಯಾಣಿಕರನ್ನೇ ಬಾಗಿಲ ಮುಚ್ಚಲು ಚಾಲಕರೇ ಆಜ್ಞೆ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು. ಇಷ್ಟೆಲ್ಲಾ ಅನಾನುಕೂಲತೆಗಳನ್ನು ಹೇಗೆ ಅನುಭವಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದೀರ ಎಂದು ಸಹ-ಪ್ರಯಾಣಿಕರನ್ನು ವಿಚಾರಿಸಿದಾಗ ಅವರುಗಳು ಬಿಟ್ಟ ನಿಟ್ಟುಸಿರೇ ಅವರ ಅಸಹಾಯಕತೆಯ ಪರಮಾವಧಿಯನ್ನು ತೋರಿದಂತಿತ್ತು - "ಬೇರೆ ಗತಿಯಿಲ್ಲ ಸ್ವಾಮಿ, ನಮ್ಮ ಕಣ್ಣೀರನ್ನು ಒರೆಸುವವರು ಯಾರಿದ್ದಾರೆ?" ಎಂಬ ಮಾತುಗಳನ್ನು ಕೇಳಿ ನನ್ನ ಕಣ್ಣೂ ತೇವವಾಯಿತು.

ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ಅಸಮತೋಲನ ಮತ್ತು ಅಸಮಂಜಸತೆಗಳನ್ನು ನೀಗಿಸುವ ನಿಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ವೈಫಲ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಸುವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆಯನ್ನು ಸಮಾಜದಲ್ಲಿ ತರುವ ಬದಲು ಅವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆಯ ಆಗರವನ್ನಾಗಿ ಮಾಡಿರುವ ನಮ್ಮ ರಾಜಕೀಯ ಮತ್ತು ಅಧಿಕಾರ ವರ್ಗಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಮತ್ತು ನಮ್ಮ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಹೇಸಿಗೆಯಾಯಿತು.

ಏಕೆ ಹೀಗೆ - ಒಂದು ಕಣ್ಣಿಗೆ ಬೆಣ್ಣೆ (ವೋಲ್ವೋ, ಮಕ್ರೊಪೋಲೋಗಳು - ನಗರ ನಾಗರೀಕರಿಗೆ ರಿಯಾಯಿತಿ ದರದಲ್ಲಿ ಮತ್ತು ಅವುಗಳನ್ನು ಓಡಿಸುವುದರಿಂದ ಭರಿಸಲಾಗದ ನಷ್ಟ ಆಗುತ್ತಿದ್ದರೂ ಸಹ) ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಕಣ್ಣಿಗೆ ಸುಣ್ಣ (ಕಿತ್ತು ಹೋದ ವಾಹನಗಳು - ಮಾಸಲು ಬಟ್ಟೆಯ ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ ಸಾರಿಗೆ ಗ್ರಾಹಕರು ಮತ್ತು ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯ ಬೊಕ್ಕಸ ತುಂಬುವವರು).

ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆ: ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ ಸಾರಿಗೆ ಗ್ರಾಹಕರು ಸೆಟೆದು ನಿಲ್ಲುವ ಕಾಲ ಸನಿಹದಲ್ಲಿದೆಯಾ?

ವಸಂತ್ ಕುಮಾರ್ ಮೈಸೂರು ಮಠ, ಮೈಸೂರು ಗ್ರಾಹಕರ ಪರಿಷತ್

National Consumer Day at Puttaswamy P.U. College

2010-12-31T01:04:00.001-08:00

PRESS RELEASE (30-12-10)

A consumer awareness programme was conducted at K. Puttaswamy Composite P.U. College, Vijayanagar on 29-12-10 to celebrate National Consumer Day. C.V. Nagaraj of Mysore Grahakara Parishat conducted a lecture-demonstration on food adulteration detection and D.V. Dayanand Sagar of MGP spoke on the consumer movement. Prof. S.K. Ananda Thirtha, Principal of the college, presided.

V.Mahesh, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

MGP to hold Jatha on National Consumer Day

2010-12-22T20:07:00.000-08:00

(PRESS RELEASE)

On this occasion of the National Consumer Day, Mysore Grahakara Parishat is organizing a Jatha at 10.30 AM on Friday, 24-12-10. Students and some leading citizens will walk from K.R. Circle to the DC's office and present a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner to take action on two pressing consumer problems, increasing food adulteration and scarcity and poor quality of drinking water.

D.V. Dayanand Sagar, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Alternatives To Road Widening Needed

2010-12-19T07:43:00.000-08:00

The number of vehicles on the roads of Mysore city is increasing rapidly. There are indications that the roads can not handle the increased load on them. The strategy adopted by the local bodies to tackle this problem is to widen roads wherever possible. But this strategy is not backed by any scientific study of the problem and its potential solutions. Widening of the roads seems a knee-jerk reaction to traffic congestion. A dispassionate and logical look at the problem is essential.

Attempts to relieve traffic congestion by providing more road space (road widening, new roads, fly-overs, underpasses, etc.) provides only temporary relief as the uncontrolled growth of personal motor vehicle population soon occupies the increased road space, and a new round of traffic congestion begins. This is observed fact all over India. The advice of farseeing transportation engineers and town planners is that the long-term solution for traffic congestion is to reduce the number of vehicles that use the road at any given time, and to give preference to vehicles which carry more passengers. Thus, a good bus system is essential. A city with efficiently operated public transport will encourage people to use it instead of their personal vehicles and thus reduce the major cause of traffic congestion.

Road widening consists of widening the carriage way at the expense of the pedestrian footpaths and felling the trees adjacent to the carriage way. With no footpaths, pedestrians are forced to walk on the carriage way itself, obstructing motor traffic and increasing the chance of an accident. So the traffic becomes slow again and the "beneficial" effect of road widening is nullified. This can be seen in several roads which have been widened.

Roadside trees not only give shade to pedestrians and parked vehicles, they also absorb and mitigate the air and sound pollution produced by vehicles.Therefore, felling of trees for road widening has doubly negative effect.

Many roads in Mysore can not be widened any further without acquiring adjacent properties and demolishing structures on them. The cost of acquisition and the legal delays may be prohibitive.

In combating traffic congestion, several alternatives to road widening have been tried in many cities around the world and found successful. Some of them are:

(a) Strengthen the bus transport system by introducing more buses to provide more routes and increase the frequency of service.

(b) Introduce parking fee and congestion pricing. Introduce parking fees in and around busy roads. Charge toll for vehicles entering congested parts of the city during busy hours. This technique has successfully reduced congestion in cities like London, Stockholm, Milan, Rome and Osl

(c) Introduce Vehicle Quota System. This will allow the RTO to control the number of cars on the roads of Mysore. The quota is fixed based on the present capacity of roads. The RTO will determine how many of each category of vehicles are allowed on the road. Subtracting the number of vehicles of that category which are already on the road from the allowed number gives the number of available permits in that category. The RTO will then auction publicly these available permits for a period of 5 years. This system which is in place in Singapore has not only reduced traffic congestion, but has also provided enormous revenues.

(d) Encourage walking and bicycle use by providing "walkers only" and "bicycles only" zones in city centre.

There is increasing evidence that the road widening model for tackling traffic congestion has already stopped working in Mysore. It is time to give it up and try some of the alternatives indicated above and which have proved to be successful elsewhere. MGP has written to Sri. R.Ashoka, Minister for Transport and Sri. S.A. Ramdas, Minister in Charge of Mysore District on this matter.

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

International Anti-corruption Day Observed

2010-12-17T02:01:00.000-08:00

On the occasion of the International Anti-Corruption Day (9-12-10), Sadvidya Pathashala Pre-University College organized a workshop for its students on 11-12-10. The workshop was conducted by MGP activist Vasanthkumar Mysoremath.

Under the guidance of Mysoremath, the students created a short play on corruption (a tehsildar demanding a bribe of Rs.50,000 from a farmer for land use conversion and the farmer complaining to the Lokayukta). The humorous skit was performed on stage and thoroughly enjoyed by the audience.

Mysoremath spoke briefly on the guidelines laid down by the United Nations Convention of Anti-corruption for the more than 140 signatory countries. He also administered an oath to the students to fight corruption in their future life (see photo).

Smt.Vijayalakshmi, Lecturer in Biology and Krishna Mohan were present.

D.V.Dayanand Sagar, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Passengers Suffer As Buses Change Route

2010-12-13T01:25:00.001-08:00

KRS Road has been closed for repairs between Dasappa Circle and Akashavani Circle for many months now. Buses travelling this way had been diverted to Valmiki Road and the Akashavani bus stop had been shifted next to Ramakrishna Ashram.

Now Valmiki Road is also being repaired. Bus movement on the road has been stopped. Now, some buses come to Akashavani Circle and go to the Central Bus Stand via Bamboo Bazaar while others choose to go to Hunsur Road via St. Joseph's School. No one seems to know which route a bus will take and where its stops are. As a result, catching a bus has become an ordeal for the residents of Yadavagiri. For elderly persons, women and students going to schools and clolleges, it has become a hellish experience. When one looks at the slow progress of road repair in our city, there may be no escape from this suffering in our lifetime.

To prevent such avoidable harassment of citizens, whenever road repair work is undertaken, the City Corporation or PWD Department or MUDA must announce it in the local papers a month in advance. The duration of the work must also be mentioned in this announcement. Similarly, KSRTC must announce in the local papers the changed bus routes, the new bus stops and the new fares two weeks in advance. Signs must be erected at the new bus stops. When CESC can warn the public of impending power shutdowns and Water Department can warn of impending water supply cuts, there is no reason why bus route changes can also not be announced ahead of time. KSRTC must also monitor their staff so that these changes are implemented properly.

B.V.Shenoy, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Plastic Reduction Needs People Involvement

2010-12-13T01:24:00.000-08:00

Proliferation of plastic is one of the main sources of urban pollution. To reduce the pollution due to plastic carry bags, MGP, as a part of "Save Mysore" campaign, got about 5000 cotton carry bags made and gave it to the public at cost. To tackle this problem at the source, we talked to the biggest department store in Mysore, More Megastore on Narayana Shastri Road on how the use of plastic bags can be reduced. The management was extremely cooperative and promptly procured environment-friendly jute bags and kept them in full view of the customers near the cash payment-cum-packing counters (See Photo). They are available at a reasonable cost and can be reused them every time the customer visited the Megastore.

Unfortunately, very few customers have picked up these eco-friendly bags for packing their items. Instead of reducing plastic use, many customers want their purchases packed in as many plastic carry bags as possible. Old habits die hard.

It is time all of us become more responsible and reduce the use of plastics. As Mahatma Gandhi said: "You be the change you want to see".

Vasanthkumar Mysoremath, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Confusion At Aadhaar Centres

2010-12-11T01:54:00.000-08:00

It has been reported in the media that more than 200 centres have been opened in Mysore district and anyone can go there and obtain Aadhaar, the Unique Identification Number.

I visited to the Aadhaar centre at Mahajana College recently to get my Aadhaar number and I found that it was a centre of confusion and chaos. Getting accurate information was difficult because different people gave different answers. When I first went (on Monday) with my application form, I was given a number 6 and asked to come at 9 AM on Wednesday. I was specifically told that I would be the 6th person to be processed on Wednesday. We were also told that supporting documents (such as voter ID, PAN card) will be scanned by them and so we took it that submitting their xerox copies with the application forms was not necessary. But when I went at 9 AM on Wednesday, the person in charge sang a different tune. He said that people would be processed in the order in which they handed in the applications on Wednesday. My number 6 had no value. He also would not accept the application forms without the xerox copies. I did not argue with him since I had come early and happened to have the xerox copies and I thought I would be processed quickly.

But I soon realized I was wrong. The applications were not being processed in the order in which they were submitted and people who came later (especially one person who claimed he was a journalist and had to be processed first) were breaking the queue and were getting processed earlier than me. It was only when law-abiding citizens like me got fed up and started screaming that we got processed. Even then, it took a very long time because the person typing in my details could not get anything right and had to be replaced by a more competent person.

My friends tell me the situation is not better in other Aadhaar centres. Based on our experience, we have some suggestions to streamline the Aadhaar process.

1. The centres should be manned by trained and competent people. They should be monitored to make sure that they act professionally and the public is not harassed.

2. There should be signs telling the public where blank forms and information can be obtained.

3. When a person comes in with a filled application form, his name should be entered in a book along with the seniority number given for any day he chooses. He should be given a token with that number and date and told exactly what documents to bring. No xeroxes are necessary since the documents are scanned anyway.

4. When the centre opens at 9 AM, token numbers along with the table number where the person has to go should be called out loud in order and the corresponding names processed. People will know that no one jumping the queue. Since it takes about 15 minutes for processing a person, people can figure out when their turn will come and will not waste time waiting.

P.M.Bhat, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Substandard Road Repairs

2010-12-09T01:10:00.000-08:00

Roads in Yadavagiri are being reasphalted. It appears that the basic principles of road construction are being ignored and it will be no surprise if the roads deteriorate in a very short time. Some of the obvious deficiencies are

1. The roads do not have any camber to direct water (such as rain water) off the road. So water will flow on the road itself and water is the biggest enemy of asphalt roads.

2. There is no usable footpath. The earth at the edge of the road is piled high upto two feet in some places. This will again force water to run the street itself and destroy it. In the photo, one can see the rut dug by flowing water at the edge of the road.

3. Existing potholes were filled most indifferently without cutting the road around the pothole.

4. Rolling has not been done properly and as a result, the asphalt at many places, especially near the road edge has not been properly compacted.

5. A slab over the underground storm drain below the intersection of 1st Main and 2nd Cross was broken, but the road was asphalted without replacing the slab.

In fact, the list of deficiencies (such as not monitoring the temperature of the hot mix, improper precleaning of the road surface, improper tack coat application, not providing a well-defined road edge, etc.) seems endless. Is there no quality control of road construction in Mysore?

B.V. Shenoy, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Government Ignores Cheaper and Greener Alternative

2010-12-06T08:30:00.000-08:00

It has been reported that the Ministry of Environment and Forests has finally cleared a proposal to supply drinking water to M.M. Hills Devasthanam complex. The project which will cost Rs. 28 crores involves laying a 21 km pipeline through forest area from Kaveri river. Work on the project is scheduled to begin this month.

It is astounding that the authorities have decided to go with this project when an alternate scheme which is superior to the above proposal in every respect was presented to the government more than 12 years ago. This scheme makes use of a natural perennial stream which flows through a valley called Uttappiam Halla at a distance of 1.5 km from M.M. Hills. It proposes a barrage about 10 m high across the stream to create a small lake. A well or a borewell just downstream from the barrage (and recharged by the barrage) will be the source of water.

A comparison of the two proposals, the official (OP) and the alternate (AP) is given below:

1. Capital expenditure:

OP costs Rs 28 crores. AP costs Rs.2 Crores.

2. Maintenance cost:

The source of water in OP is river water and it has to be filtered and purified. This costs money. The source of water in AP is groundwater and may not need any treatment at all.

Electric power requires to pump water a distance of 21 km from Kaveri river in OP is prohibitively high when compared to pumping water a distance of 1.5 km in AP.

3. Maintenance difficulty:

Protecting 21 km of pipeline in OP against thieves and vandals is much more difficult than protecting 1.5.km of pipeline in AP.

In addition, the environmental damage in building a 21 km pipeline through dense forest in OP is much greater than in AP.

Thus the alternate proposal (which was based on a detailed study conducted by the Department of Mines and Geology at the instance of the then DC of Mysore, Ajay Kumar Seth) seems superior to the project now being undertaken. It is a mystery why the government has opted for the more expensive and more environmentally damaging proposal.

V.Mahesha, Working President, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

MCC, Wake Up!

2010-12-06T00:39:00.000-08:00

Overflowing sewage on the road connecting Ashokapuram and Kuvempunagar (railway underbridge near NIE hostel) is causing severe hardship to pedestrians and two-wheeler drivers . It is surprising that the authorities have ignored this public nuisance for more than a month. We request MCC to attend to the problem immediately.

Vishwas Krishna, MGP

Photos of the October issue of Grahaka Patrike and other news in pictures

2010-12-05T00:41:00.000-08:00

(Maj.Gen. (Rtd.) S.G. Vombatkere)

To commemorate the victory of the people in stopping the construction of a thermal power plant at Chamalapura near Mysore, A "Vijayagallu" was placed on 23-7-10.

MGP began 21 years ago. This graph shows its membership over the years.

(Dr. Bhamy V.Shenoy)

To make room for the new railway bridge just south of the railway station, KRS road and the water pipes and UGD pipes that pass beneath the road are being lowered by a few feet. This has resulted in the closure of the raod for more than 5 months.

(Syed Tanveeruddin)

To do the work on KRS road, several roadside trees were cut, without the permission of the forest department.

(D.V. Dayanand Sagar)

Lane dilineators planted near Kamakshi Hospital to mark the bus bay have been crushed by the passing traffic. They now pose a hazard to the traffic.

(Dr. Bhamy V.Shenoy)

Since Dasara is approaching, the work on the water pipes beneath KRS road is being stopped in the middle and the road is being filled up. It will be dug again after the Dasara and the work resumed.

(B.V.Shenoy)

The dais at the 21st Annual General Body Meeting of MGP. From left, Prof. S.K. Ananda Thirtha (Working President), Maj Gen. (Rtd.) S.G. Vombatkere (President), Sreemathi Hariprasad (Secretary) and P.M. Bhat (Treasurer).

(B.V.Shenoy)

The audience at the 21st Annual General Body Meeting of MGP.

(B.V.Shenoy)
K.N. Ramachandra of MGP speaking at the film show on genetic engineering and discussion organized by South Against Genetic Engineering (SAGE) at Somani College on 16-9-10.

(B.V.Shenoy)

MGP, 350.org and the Institution of Engineers, Mysore Local Chapter organized a workshop on global warming on 10-10-10. From left, C.V. Nagaraj, D.V. Dayanand Sagar, A.S. Satish, Vasanthkumar Mysoremath, Sreenivas, Dr. K.A. Kushalapa, Dwarkanath Narayan.

New Executive Committe for MGP (2010-2013)

Top from left
Sreemathi Hariprasad, President, V.Mahesha, Working President, D.V. Dayanand Sagar, Secretary & K.R.Seshadri, Treasurer

Bottom from left
Asha Vombatkere, S.Sobana, P.M.Bhat and M. Jayaram

(B.V.Shenoy)

To widen roads, Mysore City Corporation has proposed the cutting of 201 trees in various parts of Mysore. To prepare a case against the tree cutting, a group of MGP members visited all the trees proposed to be cut.

(B.V.Shenoy)

This road (Vanivilas Road) has already been widened in anticipation of the forest department's permission!

(Vasanthkumar Mysoremath)

This peltophorum tree near Karajikere is scheduled to be cut even though it does not hinder traffic at all.

(B.V.Shenoy)

Trees on Vihara Marga in Siddharthanagar are also scheduled to be cut even though the road can be widened without cutting them.

MGP Objections To Electricity Tariff Hike Proposal

2010-11-26T04:50:00.000-08:00

Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC), which supplies electric power to Mysore has filed an application before the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) to increase electricity tariffs for the period 2011-13. KERC is holding a public hearing on CESC's application on 25-11-10 at Mysore. Mysore Grahakara Parishat has filed the following objections:

1. Sec. 61(g) of The Electricity Act, 2003 (EA) intends that the tariff should reflect the actual cost of power. Since all the power supply companies in Karnataka have filed for identical tariff increases, it is obvious that the tariff proposed by them in general, and CESC in particular, does not reflect the actual cost of power. for example, the proposed tariffs (energy charges) for LT 2(a)(i) category is as follows:

Present rate Proposed rate

For the first 30 units 1.85 2.60

31 to 100 units: 2.90 3.65

101 to 200 units 3.90 4.65

201 to 300 units 4.60 5.35

301 to 400 units 4.95 5.70

For greater than 400 units: 5.90 6.65

These figures are identical for CESC, BESCOM, HESCOM, GESCOM and MESCOM. The actual cost of supply of power for all these companies can not be the same to the last decimal place when one takes into account, the different locations, different distances to power sources, different demographics and different costs of living. It is clear that the ESCOMs have not determined the cost of power supply in any scientific manner, but are presenting fictitious numbers. For this reason, the tariff hike proposed by CESC should be rejected. The ESCOMs have been always submitting identical tariffs and the Commission is requested to direct them to cease this practice and determine the actual cost of power supplied.

2. According to Sec. 61(g) of EA, the electric tariff should progressively reduce and eliminate cross-subsidies. The proposal of CESC goes contrary to these guidelines and tends to increase the cross-subsidy. The exclusion of Bhagya Jyothi and Kutira Jyothi schemes and irrigation pump sets (of upto 10 HP) from the tariff hike will increase the cross-subsidy from other users of electricity and thus violates the Act. CESC can not exclude Bhagya Jyothi and Kutira Jyothi schemes and irrigation pump sets from the tariff hike. If the government wants to subsidize these classes of users, it should reimburse CESC the increased cost of the subsidy.

3. Sections 27(1) (d), (e) and (f) of the Karnataka Electricity Reforms Act, 1999 stipulate that in determining the tariffs, the Commission shall be guided by principles of 'economical use of the resources', 'optimum investments', 'interests of the consumers' and 'commercial principles'. It is clear that none of these requirements have been fully met by CESC. The process of tariff revision should not only suitably compensate CESC for any unavoidable increase in the input costs, but it should also seek to eliminate wastage and increase efficiency to adequate levels. There is no need for a tariff hike now if CESC undertakes a committed drive to improve its operational efficiencies; to bring down the aggregate technical and commercial loss to international levels, to ensure accurate metering of all the connected installations, to improve revenue collection efficiency to 100%, to adopt international benchmarking and to adopt best work practices. Increased deficit between its anticipated cost and revenue does not give CESC an indisputable right to get tariff increases, without exhausting all available means to improve operational and commercial efficiency.

4. CESC has been focussing too much on power supply management and not enough on power demand management such as promotion of CFLs and LEDs, solar lighting and solar water heaters through incentives (both in the form of attractive energy bill discounts and subsidy through government in the capital cost), introducing Time-of-Day metering and the corresponding tariff, subsidizing the replacement of old and inefficient IP sets by modern efficient IP sets, discouraging garish night-time advertising, etc. If power demand is properly managed, it is possible that tariff hike will not at all be necessary.

5. Rural areas are suffering heavy power cuts in contrast to urban areas. This discrimination by CESC is against both equity and Sec. 5.1 of the National Energy Policy. The Commission is urged to order an end to such discrimination.

V.Mahesha, Working President, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Antibiotic Misuse

2010-11-20T05:36:00.000-08:00

The first thing many doctors prescribe for almost any medical problem is an antibiotic. They are being prescribed even in cases where they are useless and even when they are useful, they are being prescribed for far longer periods than is necessary. The medical fraternity is finally waking up to this tremendous misuse of antibiotics.

Antibiotics work only when infections are caused by bacteria. But many infections are caused by fungi (ringworm, athlete's foot, yeast infection, etc.) and by viruses (common cold, most coughs, dengue, swine flu, chikungunya, etc.) and even though antibiotics are useless against these infections, they are very commonly prescribed for these diseases. Such inappropriate use of antibiotics has the dangerous consequence of creating bacteria which are resistant to antibiotics. When bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, curing bacterial diseases becomes very difficult and there is a heightened risk of deadly epidemics. It will be a throwback to the middle ages when millions perished from epidemics of cholera and plague. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the USA calls antibiotic resistance of bacteria one of the world's most pressing public health problems. In an attempt to stop this problem from escalating further, CDC began a campaign in 2003 to educate the doctors in the US on the dangers of inappropriate use of antibiotics and to discourage them from such use. Starting in 2008, CDC is observing one week in a year as the "Get smart with antibiotics" week. The "Get smart with antibiotics" week this year is being observed this week (15-21 November) and doctors are being urged to be economical with antibiotic prescriptions. UK and France also have national campaigns against misuse of antibiotics. But no such campaign to limit antibiotic use in India seems to have been launched till now.

As if misuse of antibiotics is not enough, routine excessive use of antibiotics has now come to light. When you go to a doctor with a problem which requires antibiotics, the doctor will prescribe the medicine for 7 or 10 or 21 days. When you start taking the medicine, you find that all the symptoms disappear after 4-5 days and you stop taking the antibiotic assuming that you are cured. If the doctor finds that you have stopped taking the medicine, he is sure to berate you severely for not taking the full course prescribed.

But does the doctor have any basis for determining what a full course for an antibiotic is? The answer amazingly is NO! It appears that the guidelines issued by various medical bodies on how long an antibiotic should be taken are not supported by any solid scientific evidence at all! Instead, they are based on what the drug manufacturers recommend and since the manufacturers want to maximize profit, they naturally recommend long treatment durations.

A detailed study conducted in the Netherlands and published in the British Medical Journal in 2006 (BMJ 2006;332:1355) provided the first scientific evidence for fixing the duration of a antibiotic course. It found that for certain types of pneumonia, discontinuing the antibiotic treatment after 3 days was just as effective as 8 days (which is the normal prescription). This shocked the medical world which thought till then that 8 days treatment was absolutely essential to cure the disease. But the evidence presented by the study was so compelling that, despite strong opposition from the drug industry, the medical fraternity was forced to launch scientific studies to determine the optimum antibiotic therapy duration for other medical problems.

Conducting such studies is a long and tedious process and so all the results are not in yet. In research reported in Archives of Otolaryngology in 2009, it was found that a 3-day course of antibiotics after pediatric tonsillectomy is as effective as a 7-day course. In another research, it was found that a 3-day course of antibiotics for middle ear infection is as effective as a 5-day course and as a result the World Health Organization, in 2009 reduced its recommended duration for middle ear infection treatment to three days. As new research results trickle in, it is certain that treatment periods for all antibiotics will be reduced, some drastically.

But it does not appear that these scientific research results are being reflected in prescriptions in India. As a result, in India, antibiotics are being prescribed for too long a period (and for the wrong diseases, as mentioned earlier). It is imperative that Continuing Medical Education programmes educate the doctors here on misuse and excessive use of antibiotics. It may be difficult, because many large drug companies are aggressively marketing their antibiotics and any effort to limit their use will be vehemently opposed. In the USA, in light of the research cited above, the government has tightened the guidelines for clinical trials of antibiotics and the drug companies are threatening to stop manufacturing antibiotics altogether. One can only imagine the lengths to which they will go in India to protect their interests.

According to the bestselling "The ICU Book" by Dr. Paul L. Marino, there are two cardinal rules concerning antibiotics, try not to use them, and try not to use too many of them. Consumers should be aware of these rules, which seem to be routinely violated in practice. This might be one reason why bacteria (containing the gene NDM1) which can resist almost all antibiotics, including the very powerful carbapenems, is widespread in India. If this trend is not reversed immediately, we could be facing deadly uncontrollable epidemics very soon.

C.V.Nagaraj, member, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Public Discussion on Genetically Modified Crops

2010-11-12T04:32:00.000-08:00

Genetically modified (GM) crops are set to invade India in a large way. The environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, has put a temporary brake on this invasion, but tremendous pressure is being applied to rescind his decision There is growing evidence that GM crops have several negative effects such as introduction of new kinds of allergies, greatly increased resistance to antibiotics, toxicity to various life forms, adverse effect on human health, loss of biodiversity, loss of control over seed production by the farmers, etc.

Southern Action on Genetic Engineering (SAGE) in association with Deccan Development Society, Hyderabad and HIVOS, Netherlands, is organizing a public discussion on how to counteract the pressure of the pro-GM lobby. It will be held at 11 AM on Sunday, 14-11-10 at Maneyangala of the Kalamandira on Hunsur Road. After a short movie on GM crops, P.V. Satheesh, the National Convenor of SAGE will moderate a public discussion on how to spread awareness on the effects of GM crops among the public, especially farmers. Anyone who is interested is welcome to participate.

K.N. Ramachandra, Mysore Grahakara Parishat and SAGE