6. Has Mysuru Gone Bangaluru-Way? (Part 6 of 7)

Iconic Mysuru and its Tipping Point

Wadeyar dynasty of Mysore State had a divine heart and a magic sceptre in their hand. Their belief in Goddess Chamundi was the divine driving force behind their rule. And as if to give credence to their belief in the Goddess Chamundi, dynasty’s women folk were equal participants in the protection and development of state. Wadeyars built their Mysore State like craftsmen, for whom every detail was an important part of the whole.

Mysuru City – A City-Planners’ Dream

It is in a wholesome view of their rule that Mysuru city became the fulcrum of Wadeyars magical creation. Palaces they built in Mysuru were not as much for a show of pomp and pageantry, as much a portrayal of an overall majesty and vision of a capital city. The establishment of the hydro-electricity generation station at Shivanasamudram, near Mysuru, in 1908 was only the second such facility in the country at that time. It electrified the prosperity of the state and illuminated the Mysuru city and city palace. Mysuru city adopted the Best Practices found in the important European cities. Mysuru had buildings and the chateaus; the fountains and the circles; gardens manicured pathways, and the roads; gateways and the arches and intricately designed road-side electric lights and the lakes. The residential areas were well spread out and provided with necessary facilities such as electricity, piped drinking water, underground drainage and very responsive civic administration. Mysuru also prided with a university, a race course, a large zoo and a museum.

This iconic city was an image of any European city and was the pride of the Mysore State. It became a model capital city to be replicated by many other princely states like Baroda, Jaipur and Indore.

Therefore, the Mysuru was city planners’ dream.

Fountains, Orchards and Gardens

The grand Amba Vilas palace was surrounded by orchards, gardens and parks. Two fountains - the Harding Circle Fountain and the Elgin Fountain - on either sides of the Chamraraja Circle on Albert Victor road gave a good expanse and elevation to the city palace. The Elgin Fountain was located at the very spot of the present K.R.Circle and was a part of large garden, decorated pillared gateways on either side and very imposing Lansdowne building as a backdrop.

Harding Circle had a big circular fountain where the water springs rose in varying heights in several circles, like today’s much touted ‘modern’ musical fountain of Brindavan Gardens. And during the evenings fast differently changing illuminated colors lights of the fountain were very mesmerizing. Music bands performed during the evenings at this fountain. Harding Circle had six access roads, and each such entry point was having well designed polished colored pillar gateways on either side of the roads with elegant electric lights lamp shades at the top. Huge trees at the borders gave a green backdrop and enhanced the beauty of the fountain’s environs.

Just behind the Zoo a Thandi Sadak, a green-cave formed by flowering creepers, and the creeper buntings between huge trees on Lalita Mahal road were distinct features of green Mysuru. The palace itself was surrounded by orchards and gardens along the fort walls. Curzon Park, the Kuppana Park provided greenery and vast visage to the entire surroundings facing the Amba vilas Palace. The present KSRTC bus stand was an orchard with guava, chikkoo, mango and other fruit trees. 

Imposing Buildings, Gateways & Arches: Circles & Clock-Towers

The Amba Vilas palace was surrounded by beautiful buildings. On its southern side were aesthetically designed Gun House and two Palace Office Complexes. On its western side were the Sanskrit College, the city Municipality building, Motikhana building, and Lansdowne building. There were fountains, circles and gateways of polished colored granite stone pillars with very decorative lamps at several strategic junctions all round the Amba Vilas palace. The building housing the Palace Band and the Palace Motor Garage and the Chittarnjan Palace at the far end of the Albert Victor Road were part of the Amba Vilas Palace surroundings.

The Rangacharalu Memorial Town Hall, amidst vast open green field in front of this palace itself was surrounded by private buildings of equally aesthetic architecture like Cauveripattanam building and the C.P.C building. Not very far away from the Silver Jubilee clock tower there was Garden Hotel mainly visited by the foreign guests.

The area beyond Amba Vilas Palace was laid out with well planned metalled roads, wide footpaths with tall trees, aesthetically designed electric lamp-posts and public buildings of immense architectural beauty. Sayyaji Rao road and Irwin road got a lion’s share of such wholesome creations. Devaraja Market complex, the K.R.Hospital and Cheluvamba Hosptial Building complex, the Chamaraja Technical Training Institute the Unani and Ayurveda Hospital and the Medical College building were located here. Wellington Lodge behind the Central Police Station on Irwin road is more than 200 years old and was the residence of Arthur Wellesley between 1799 and 1801 after the fall of Tippu Sultan. The neighboring Government Guest House is yet another iconic building of the city.

The Railway station, Railway offices, the Exhibition Buildings; Central Police Station building; Central Post office building and the State Bank of India building, and the imposing Jama [Badi] Masjid, were located on the Irwin road. Many more public buildings such as the Maharaja College, the Oriental Research Institute, Attaraha Kacheri, City Courts, Vani Vilasa Market, Sports Club, Race Course, were individually designed. Lalitha Mahal Road was centre of beautiful chateaus type bungalows for the foreigners serving the royalty.

Christian Missionaries also had large architecturally beautiful building such as Victoria Girls School building on the other side of Sayyaji Rao raod, also two Bathomlow Church buildings and the Wesley Press on Bangalore-Nilgiri road. The Catholic Church had its iconic Philomena’s Church and very large swath of lands with Philomena’ school, College, Bishop House etc. Most of these buildings were built with distinct architectural designs. Many of these buildings came up at different times.

And there were many private buildings in the city centre – the Dodda Pete, Sayyaji Rao Road, and the Irwin road - built in symmetry with the grand public buildings giving the city centre a look of dream city.

To add further beauty to some of these buildings were Dufferin Clock Tower, the Silver Jubilee Clock Tower and big clocks on the towers of some public buildings, such as Vani Vilas Market, to act as the time-keepers of the city.

In the subsequent years these buildings have become the grand Heritage of Mysuru.

Makkaji Chowka - the Malgudi

Makkaji Chowka, an area between the Sayyaji Rao Road and the Dodda Pete became the commercial hub with shops which catered to every need of the public. Hotels, Cinema houses, schools; beedi-shops and snuff-shops, watch-shops and the cycle-shops; cloth shops and ready-made garments shops, shoe-shops; even arrack shops were there. One got here anything and everything one would want.

Eradu-Vare –Aane - Galli, a small cleavage between Makkaji Chowka and the Sayyaji Rao road was market for the poor and the common man. War-time buses dislodged its rural passengers here. Magicians performed their arts here. This was the Maya-Bazar which spawned the idea of Malgudi in the mind of R.K.Narayan.

The Star of Mysore, the chronicler of Mysuru city, has recorded for the posterity the magnificence of Makkaji Chowka, both as commercial and cultural center in serialized articles by this author --: I: Makkaji Chowk that was in city [Oct 13 th 2015]; II- Makkaji Chowk: Its Distinct Role in Modernisation of Mysuru [November 5 th , 2015]; III- Makkaji Chowk: A Unique Mix of Traditional and Modern Businesses [December 20 th 2015]; IV-Makkaji Chowk: Bombay Anand Bhavan: Dominating Building with Enchanting Entrance [January 31 st 2016]; and V-Makkaji Chowk: Bombay Anand Bhavan: Where Gastronomy & Environs were Customer Centric [March 13th 2016].

CITB & Planned Residential Layouts

City Improvement Trust Board [CITB] was established as early as 1904. It developed well- planned residential layouts in Laxmi Puram, Krishnamurthy Puramm, Chamundi Puram, Sarasvati Puram, Vani Vialas Puram, Yadava Giri, Mandi Mohalla, N.R.Mohalla and several more. And in the post-independence period Jayalakshmi Puram, Gokulam stage I, II, and III; Brindavana, and many more were developed. All these residential layouts were provided with underground sewage system, piped drinking water supply, electric supply lines, well laid out roads with proper shoulders and footpaths, road-side trees; storm water drains and many other infrastructural facilities.

Responsive Municipal Administration

During the reign of Wodyears the Municipal administration was under the direct supervision of Dewans and in the later years commissioners. Quite early people’s participation, first by the nominations and later on through the elections was introduced, making municipal administration very active and alive to the people’s needs. Early in the mornings the main roads were cleaned and watered by water tankers; solid wastes were systematically collected and shifted to far away dumping yards to be converted into fertilizers.

Thus, Mysuru was a city with distinctive history and heritage.

The Tipping point

At the dawn of Independence the rule by the Royalty in the state was replaced by a rule by the Republic. Consequently, Mysuru lost its royal patronage. The new government shifted the state capital from Mysuru to Bangaluru. This transition brought a metamorphic drift in the fate of Mysuru. Further, the 1956 state re-organization not only enlarged the state’s geographical boundaries, but it also thoroughly changed its socio-political ethos.

Mysuru was the darling of ‘old’ Mysore State. But for the people and its representatives of ‘New’ Mysore State, it was Bangalore, the new seat of power that mattered. And this transition was the tipping point in the history of Iconic Mysuru.

5. Has Mysuru Gone Bangaluru-Way? (Part 5 of 7)

Mysuru- A Name that Resonates

What is in a Name?

When one thinks of the above adage, one is immediately reminded of the great English wordsmith William Shakespeare and his romantic Romeo and Juliet; and its oft quoted dialogue – “What is in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” However, one will understand this better when one meets with a Mysorean who gloats over his beloved Mysuru, (though mostly about its past); or meets with any visitor to Mysuru who fell in instant love with Mysuru; or meets with those who preferred to migrate to Mysuru from different parts of the country, in some cases even from the different parts of the world; or finds out as to why Mysuru is consecutively on the New York Times list of world’s Most-Must-Visit-Place for one reason or the other. It is this magnetic DNA of Mysuru which makes its name unique.

Unique DNA of Mysuru

It is said that a city’s DNA is its identity: a unique, inherited collection of its assets, its history, its traits, and its culture that distinguishes it internally and externally, and has the potential to unite people and place.

Everything about Mysuru has a magnetic power that gives its distinctive DNA. Its location is extraordinary. Its history is legendary. Its rulers- Wodeyars, were great idealists and dedicated architects. They were the ‘Vishwakarma’ who planned this city with love, tender care, and so very meticulously. This city has been a centre of education to millions. Its Yoga is the source of hope for the body and soul of citizens of the world. Music, dance and drama vibrate in every pulse of this city. Its people are highly cultured. The fragrance of Sandalwood is associated with Mysuru. This city is a preferred location for the film makers of the world.

This city has been the karma-bhoomi for engineers of great eminence such as Sir. M. Vishweswaraiah; several Gnana Peetha Awardees like K.V.Puttappa (Kuvempu) and U.R.Ananthamurthy; writers like R.K.Narayan, Anakru, Tarasu; Triveni; Cartoonist like R.K.Lakshman, photographer like T.S.Satyan, poet-lyricist like Narasimha Swamy; businessmen of international eminence like Narayana Murthy and national and state level politicians, educationists, academicians, musicians, dancers, donors, sports persons and the list can go on and on.

Mysuru is a name with superlative epitaphs. It is called a City of Palaces; a Royal City; a Planned City; a Cultural City; Educational City; a Yoga City; a Sandalwood City; a City of Gardens, Fountains and Arch Gates; a Tourists’ Paradise and so on and so forth. Books such as Splendors of Royal Mysore by Vikram Sampath (2008); Mysuru Memories by Gouri Satya (2015) and Colonial Land Marks of Mysore (2020) and of course voluminous Mysore Gazetteer by Lewis Rice narrate the spectacular story of Mysuru.

And therefore, there is lot in the name of Mysuru. This is a name that resonates.

Location-Extraordinaire

Mysuru is located at the foot, rather in the green valley of Chamundi Hill. This city has a great symbiotic relationship with its Chamundi Hill. With its very curvaceous yet not very high, nor very low peaks as a beautiful background, the Chamundi Hill looks like a Tiara of the city!

Spanning a distance of more than 10 avian miles around the city this Tiara acts like a beacon for the Mysureans and the visitors of Mysuru, as if beckoning them to reach the city as soon as possible! It generates a sense of great relief and happiness that journey is coming to an end and will reach home soon. Chamundi hill has the power to convert an atheist! Since it makes even atheist visit it, at least to have an aerial view of this city, if not the temple! And that view makes every visitor to feel the heavenly pleasure of a magnificent specter, which otherwise only an airplane traveler can have.

Cauvery and Kapila, the two rivers flowing not far away on either side of the city, are a great source of Mysuru’s life energy. Lakes, some within the city and many not far away and the distant hills provide the city with its salubrious climate. The flora-fauna rich forests at its borders enhance the environmental richness of the city.

Wodeyars developed several satellite townships around the city like Bannur, Chamaraja Nagar, Hunsur, and K.R. Nagar which worked as demographic shock absorbers for their capital city and at the same time provided the city with economic support in the form of agro and dairy produce.

This city is also surrounded by historic and religious places such as Nanjangud, Srirangapattana, Tirumakudal Narasipura and Somanatha Pura apart from the Chamundi Hill at the centre of the city.

It is a location extraordinaire indeed. How many cities in the country, or even the world can boast of such a beautiful location?

Ancient History and the Legend

The history of the city is claimed to date back to 862 A.D. - to a copper plate inscription. But it is during the 11 th and 12 th centuries that a reference is found to ‘MAISURNAD’ which later took the anglicized form of ‘Mysore’. In the vernacular parlance it was, and it is now, ‘Mysuru’.

There are several stories behind the city’s name. One among them is that ‘Mysore’ is said to have been derived from the legend of Mahishasura Mardhini. It is believed that the Wodeyars of Mysore who adopted Chamundeshwari as their family Goddess, named their capital city as Mysuru. Chamundeshwari Temple and the giant statue of Mahishasura atop the Chamundi Hill in the city seem to stand testimony to this legend.

Further, Mysuru Dasara, the auspicious tenth day celebrations of the Navaratri, has its own world prominence. Apart from confirmation of the belief of Wodeyars in the above legend, it is the pomp and pageantry of Dasara procession which gives Mysuru it’s another unique identity. The pre-independence glory of this Dasara, which was the culmination of religious and economic activities of the erstwhile state, was brand ambassador of the city.

City of Palaces

Wodeyars bestowed high degree of personal involvement in developing Mysuru into a most modern and a beautiful capital city. Atop most of the high points in and around the city they built beautiful palaces. However, the magnificent Mysore Palace -the Amba Vilas Palace, was at the centre of all their developmental efforts. Its architectural style is Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture. The palace is built by creating a fusion of Gothic, Hindu, Muslim and Rajput styles of architecture. Its heavenly Durbar Hall is an artist’s dream world. At the entrance an arched gateway welcomes the visitor. It’s very large courtyard has lawns and open expanse giving this palace a magnificent elegant and huge facade. Chamundi Hill provides a beautiful frontal visage to this palace.

In 1989 Beyer and Rabey, writers for Los Angeles Travel, had said about this palace thus ‘some say it was inspired by Buckingham Palace, but the intricacies of its Hindu-Muslim detail far surpass the relative simplicity of Queen Elizabeth’s London home.’ As per the New York Times 2011 list this is the palace got the second highest number of visitors in the world, only after the Vatican, consecutively for two years. When illuminated this palace creates an illusion of a dreamland scenario. Particularly when one views it from the high point of the Chamundi Hill.

They also built twin beautiful palaces in Chamundi Vihar Palace and Karanji Mansion with vast open fields, located side by side divided by a small road; then the Chittaranjan Palace [now housing the Government Education College], the Summer Palace, Lalita Mahal Palace [atpresent a star hotel], Jayalakshmi Vilas Palace [now with the University of Mysore and at the centre of Manasa Gangotri Post Graduate campus], Cheluvamba Mansion [ now housing the Central Food Technology Research Institute], Jagan Mohana Palace [the present Palace Museum] , and the Rajendra Vilas Palace, which looks like a diamond in the Tiara of Chamundi Hill. Each one of these palaces is an architectural marvel. No surprise that this city is called a city of palaces!

 

4. Has Mysuru Gone Bangaluru-Way? (Part 4 of 7)

‘Bangaluru way’ - Beyond Bailout

 A City is on the Verge of  Dying!

On February 10, 2017 Ms. Kathyayani Chamaraj, the  Executive Trustee of CIVIC activities of Citizens Matters [an organisation supported by Oorvani Foundation, a non-profit trust], wrote a very detailed letter to the Chief Minister of Karnataka under the heading – Why Bengaluru’s Planning Process is Against the Spirit of Our Constitution.  

The following quote is only the  first part of that letter:

Current situation of Bengaluru

Bengaluru city has reached a population of 1 crore already.  It is finding it difficult to provide drinking water to half its residents.  The city has 60 lakh vehicles (a vehicle for every two persons), congesting roads and making it impossible for buses to ply and for pedestrians, street vendors and cyclists to have an equitable amount of road-space.

Garbage mismanagement in the city has necessitated the intervention of the Karnataka High Court to ensure that MoEF Rules are followed and mafias controlled.  Lakes continue to froth and get encroached, even by the BDA, and Public Interest Litigations are required to seek High Court directions to protect them.

Ground water has become polluted and is getting depleted. The slightest rains flood Bengaluru due to encroachment of raja kaluves. Air is polluted due to vehicle emissions giving rise to respiratory diseases.  Children have no place to play at all. More than half the green cover has been lost in the past decade alone.

Public Interest Litigations have to be constantly filed to ensure that laws and rules regarding the setting up of the MPC and ward committees are followed.  It is obvious that the city is in a super-crisis and is on the verge of dying.

Above quote  very neatly sums up the total deterioration of urban infrastructure and total breakdown of rule of law in Bangaluru.  However, during the past four years plus years  things have so rapidly deteriorated that by  December 2021   an Editorial [quoted in part -1] has declared  Bangaluru as a Failed City! Let us very briefly scan through a few facts. 

The population of the Bangaluru as per Census 2011 was 8.4 million, whereas it is estimated to be 12 million (1.2 crore) in 2020, nearly 50 per cent increase within a period of 9 years! In 2015 historians are quoted as having said that there were three waves of migrations to the city and as per 2011 Census the migrants constituted 40 per cent of Bangaluru’s populations. In 2019 there were close to 67.000 registered IT Companies in Bangaluru, out of which 12,000 companies worked full time. As of 2017 IT firms in Bangaluru employed 1.5 million employees in IT and IT-enabled services sector, out of nearly 4.36 million employees across India. And accounted for the highest IT-related exports in the country. No surprise that Bangaluru is called the second Silicon Valley!

Post independence mainly two organisations were involved in the development and civic administration of Bangaluru, namely the Bangaluru Development Authority [BDA] and the Bruhut Banglauru Mahanagara Palike [BBMP]. As Bangaluru is the state’s capital, the state  government has also been involving itself with the affairs of this city in more than one way. Let us very briefly peruse  roles of these organisations.

BDA 

Even after the City Improvement Trust Board [CITB] morphed into Bangalore Development Authority [BDA] the city’s  planned development was in operation  from  Jayanagara and its  various phases, or even until the Dollar’s Colony,. However, once the city was hit by the Boom urban planning went haywire. It gave way to massive land scams, corruption and all round chaos. BDA became a Broken Down Authority. It had to simply adopt the decrepit infrastructure ‘developed’ by the City or Town Municipal Councils as and when concerned geographical areas were handed over to it. And there was very little that BDA could do in the form of improvements or modifications with highly ill developed and legally challenging infrastructural mess.

BBMP 

The municipal administration of Bangaluru  under BBMP has undergone even worse predicament than the BDA. The  growth of properties outpaced the capacity of BBMP to maintain records, resulting in huge shortage of revenues. In an Affidavit submitted by the government before the High Court based on a random sample survey in 4 of the 198 ward of BBMP, it was estimated that of the 16.75 lakh sites in Bangaluru the BBMP had been able to collect tax for 13.83 lakh sites and remaining 2.93 lakh sites (17.49%) were estimated to be unauthorised. The government’s survey data found that of the residential properties with violations, 47.5% have violations above 50%. In case of non-residential buildings with violations, the survey found that 81.75% buildings have more than 25%, that is only18.25% buildings have violations below that limit! 

To overcome the revenue shortage BBMP has resorted to sanctioning a semi-legal status to the properties in the nature of  Form B  registrations. However, this backdoor approval of illegality has put  the owners of such properties in a lurch.

Drinking water is short supply, and majority of the multi-storied buildings are ferrying water from ‘somewhere’, and the residents are forced to buy bottled drinking water. Water supply and bottled-drinking water  are multi-billion racket in Bangaluru.

As per the data available for 2016-17 Banaluru with more than 70,000 vehicles was home to second highest  number of vehicles in India, second to Dehli’s 1.01 crore vehicles. This was indicative of doubling of the vehicle numbers within 10 years in Bangaluru. Delays in the planning and the construction of flyovers, metro-rail, and  lack of proper road maintenance have made life of motorists a hell. 

Waste management in Bangaluru is a monumental failure. Even though organised under PPP model, it seems to be totally under the control of  mafia. Today solid waste management and  landfills are  huge issues in Bangaluru. Villages where such wastes were being dumped have revolted against BBMP. 

Due to the sky high land values and the real estate importance  BBMP  has become a magnet for politically ambitious,  newly minted rich in and around the city.  And it has badly affected the functioning of BBMP, making it most inefficient and corrupt organization. 

State Government 

Being the state capital,  everything in Bangaluru has been happening directly under the government’s scanner. Its handling of affairs in BDA and BBMP, to say the least, is totally ham handed.  State government’s attempts to bring in Akrama-Sakrama exposed its condonation of the BBMP’s failure to enforce the  property rules in the past. Foot-in -the door by the judiciary has put a stop to this stealth effort. It will not be wrong to put the entire blame for the total collapse of city’s development and administration at the door steps of the state government. 

Past Failed attempts to Revive Bangaluru

Attempts have been made in the past to revive Bangaluru. For Example: the Bangalore Agenda Task Force [BATF], consisting of topnotch industrial leaders, NGO heads, Babus with known credibility being its members. BATF did dig into the root of the malice and suggest certain remedial measures. But due to the changes in the political leadership the Task Force was given a quiet burial. Thereafter, several proposals have been in the air, such as splitting  gargantuan BBMP into more than two organisations. But the political power in BBMP would not let the government do it!

Policing is yet another area of political interference at every stage. Result is missing or weak policing, high crime rate and mafia rule. 

Summing up ‘Bangaluru Way’

Among several other factors, lack of timely remedial measures in the case of Hosur, politically motivated cancellation of NICE corridor project and myopic decision while locating KIA have cost Bangaluru very heavily. They have resulted in making Bangaluru a Failed City. And this is “Bangaluru Way”! A costly lesson in our urban development. 

Let us see whether Mysuru has ‘already’ gone the Bengaluru way?

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3. Has Mysuru Gone Bangaluru-Way? (Part 3 of 7)

KIA Location – A Myopic Decision

Kempegowda International Airport – a Jewel in the Karnataka’s Crown

Kempegowda International Airport [KIA] at Devanahalli today is considered to be the best airport of the country and one of the best in the world. It is the pride of the state. Its expanse, its highly manicured gardens at the entrance, the overall high quality user-centric facilities provided here, the interior decor, very clean and hygienic maintenance, vast neatly demarcated parking areas, near perfect security systems among other positive factors make this international airport stand out not only within the country but even internationally. Anyone who has visited the New York’s Kennedy airport will surely wonder whether that airport really deserves to be worthy of being the world’s busiest airport? Because the facilities there are very basic and not to the requisite international standards. Even London’s new Heathrow airport, though better than Kennedy airport, does not compare with KIA. May be Paris’s Charles de Gaul airport is distantly-nearer to KIA in some sense of expected international airport standards. Interestingly, KIA is still developing. Second and separate runway-tarmac is being built for national airline services, separating them from the International airline services. After completion of these developmental projects KIA will surely be the world’s top airport! Therefore, one can be justly proud of our Kempegowda International airport. However, on hindsight the location of a new International Airport at Devenahalli was the second biggest blunder that has devastated Bangaluru.

Need for a New Airport

Let us quickly recapitulate the historical events that lead to the location of KIA at Devanahalli. Very fast development of IT and BT industries in and around Bangaluru, making it world’s Silicon Valley during the last decade of last century and the beginning of this century, generated unprecedented international travel from and to Bangalore. The capacity of the existing HAL airport had reached its optimal limits, both to the service providers and to the service users. Further, being part of defense establishment any further scope for expansion of this airport was ruled out. HAL itself was confronting with greater demands from the Air force activities. Therefore, the government was compelled to think of a new place for putting up a new International Airport for Bangalore.

Search Committee

Committee consisting of political bigwigs, top bureaucrats and a few chiefs of very big industrial houses was formed to find a suitable place. There were discords, conflicts of opinions, threats to resign and a lot of public posturing. And finally, after a lot of back and forth, Devanahalli, located about 40 km north of Bangalore, was selected. Was it once again a political decision? It will be known only when people involved in this decision come out openly and tell the truth. After the scrapping of NICE Economic Corridor between Mysore- Bangalore, on the hindsight it will be seen as to what a big blunder it was to have located the KIA at Devanahalli.

The Opportunity Cost

Opportunity Cost is defined as the potential loss from a missed opportunity—the result of choosing one alternative and forgoing larger benefits of another. That is the cost of the benefits of foregone opportunity. Let us understand the opportunity cost present KIA.

The entire 40 km area between Bangalore and Devanahalli was full of grape gardens, farms, and more importantly defense establishments like Air Force Command, Border Security Force and several pharmaceutical and other industrial units. The location of Devanahalli is nearing the state border with erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, and present Telengana State. Whatever the justification given for the decision in favor of locating International Airport at Devanahalli, the overall cost-benefits to the state could never have been viable. The entire green belt in this 40 km area has been totally devastated. Lack of prior transportation plan has resulted in congestions and bottlenecks. Repeated road widening and improvements are adding to avoidable capital expenditure. Lack of Metro rail link is making the users shell out high fares in accessing the airport. Defense establishments in Air Force and BSF have been unnecessarily exposed to threats and future developmental constraints. The entire cost of development in the form of multi-lane road, flyovers, rail-link, metro and others will be narrowly beneficial to very small section of the population. And above all, Devanahalli being nearer to Telangana borders, this International airport is of greater benefit to the users of neighboring state. For the users from our own state this location only adds to their costs, both time-wise and money-wise! The opportunity cost of this decision to locate KIA at Devanahalli is enormous to the state and to the user public. These opportunity costs could have been avoided. Let us consider the alternative locations that would have been of greater benefit to a larger part of the state.

Alternate Locations –Lost Multiplier Benefits

On the hindsight the decision to locate KIA at Devanahalli was totally a myopic one. Let us just imagine if only this airport was located between Bidadi, and Ramanagaram, or say between Ramanagaram and Maddur beside Bangaluru - Mysuru Highway! This entire belt would have exploded with the economic prosperity. The entire costs of additional infra-structural development would have relieved Bangaluru of pressure on residential demands and traffic congestions. It would have benefited the nearby towns and cities. And time-wise and costs-wise Mysoreans would have been highly benefited, as the distance would have been around 70-80 km!

Conversely, suppose this airport were to have been located on Bangaluru-Mangaluru highway somewhere betweem Bangaluru and Channarayapatna. Then it would have benefited three important cities of the state- Bangaluru, Hassan and Mysuru! And the entire area all along this route would have been economically developed! Above all, the defense establishments and green belt of Bangaluru- Devanahalli would have been protected, benefitting Bangaluru’s climate!

Huge capital expenditures being incurred on providing flyovers, Metro rail and others only to facilitate the access to the KIA is benefitting a very small segment of the Bangaluru’s geographical area and population. And that too by building up greater pressure on the overall infrastructural services within the metropolitan city of Bangaluru. Location of KIA at Devanahalli was a big blunder for which the state will continue to pay a very heavy price all time to come.

Well, one can only ponder over this split milk! But above two blunders have imposed huge costs on Bangaluru and have catapulted the city from once a City with European Touch to what it has become today- a Failed City!

2. Bangaluru - a Boom city that went Bust (Part 2 of 7)

A Boom City

Bangalore, in many ways, is unlike the other great cities of India. Most of

the other cities in India remind one certainly of the present, certainly of the

future but essentially of the past. But Bangalore, as I said, more than any

other great city of India is a picture of the future....

Jawaharlal Nehru, July 17, 1962

Nehru’s appreciation was justified, Bangalore of pre-ninety eighties was indeed “in many was, ..unlike other great cities of India. However, as explained earlier things were fast changing, and changing beyond Nehru’s prediction! India Today 15 th April 1983 issue focused on Bangalore as The Boom City of the country. However, the two consecutive decades - 1990s and 2000 - changed the entire edifice of Bangaluru. Economic Policy of Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization [LPG], during 1990s stimulated the growth of large private sector units, and thousands of ancillary and small units supporting them, in and around Bangaluru. The city was stormed by an influx of economic activities. As if that was not enough, the global fear of Y2K became a stimulant in the growth of Information Technology [IT] units in Bangaluru. Quick solution from Bangaluru to the Y2K fear not only prevented the IT crisis all over the world, but it also created a second Silicon Valley of the world in Bangaluru.

With a fantastic growth rate of 76 per cent in the last decade, Bangalore has outstripped the 12 other cities in the country which have a population of more than 10 lakhs. Only Jaipur with 57 per cent and Delhi with 56 per cent come anywhere close to matching Bangalore's phenomenal growth rate. The percentage growth for the other nine cities in the last decade was - Pune: 48, Ahmedabad: 43, Hyderabad: 40, Nagpur: 39, Bombay: 37, Madras: 34, Kanpur: 32, Calcutta: 30, and Lucknow: 23. The all-India average for cities was 46 per cent. Bangalore is now estimated to be among the first 10 fastest growing cities in the world. 

The demand for housing was so rapid and high that the existing residential layouts were overrun.

People started to let their spare accommodations for making money. Factories and Offices also

demanded greater land spaces. The demand for land outpaced the availability within the planned

residential, commercial and industrial areas. Consequently the villages adjoining the city

automatically became the extended part of the city without even waiting for formal inclusion

within the city planning area.

The Kiss of Death

The negative impacts on the garden city were very severe. City planning gave way to post-facto

absorption of chaotically grown adjoining villages into the city folds. City planning became a

misnomer. Density of population graph had hit the north pole! Once the compromise on

planning was forced, it laid the foundation for corruption and huge unplanned growth of

buildings of all kinds. Land mafias made their diabolic presence. Residential zones got merged

with the commercial and industrial complexes. Open spaces and gardens started to vanish.

Sanitation and hygiene were out of gear. The presence of State Government in this capital city,

instead of becoming a controlling point, seemed to have become an accomplice in the fast

deteriorating conditions. A Garden City systematically got converted into a Garbage city !

The consequences of such unprecedented growth of Bangalore was not unknown to the

authorities. As apprehended by Ramakrishna Hegde, the then Chief Minister of the state,

Bangalore did continue to explode haphazardly and the boom did bring it such a prosperity

which did become its Kiss of Death!

If immediate action is taken to control the crazy, unplanned

growth of the city it would be possible to make this city liveable.

Otherwise it may go the way of other big cities. We must

regulate Bangalore's growth." Or else if Bangalore continues to

explode haphazardly the boom that brought it so much

prosperity may easily be the kiss of death. -- the then Chief

Minister R.K.Hegde

Hosur’s Growth – Its Impact on Bangaluru

Tamil Nadu government had correctly assessed the crucial location and growth prospects of

Bangalore quite early, as early as in 1970s. It put up Industrial Estate at Hosur, located at the

periphery of Bangalore, and its borders with Karnataka state. Making use of the financial and

infrastructural incentives available in this Industrial Estate and also because the advantages of

the airport facility and residential facilities in neighboring Bangalore a large number of

industries started to locate themselves in Hosur . Over a period Hosur went on to develop in to a

very large industrial complex. Its growth heavily taxed the infrastructural facilities available in

the city of Bangalore.

Government of Karnataka was lethargic in countering the attractions provided by the Tamil

Nadu state in Hosur Industrial complex. Consequently, Hosur and Tamil Nadu bolted with a very

fast economic growth in the area. Whereas, Bangalore was burdened by the influx of population

and traffic without much revenues either to the city’s municipal administration or to the state

exchequer. Tamil Nadu gained at the cost of Karnataka! Tamil Nadu’s gain was Karnataka’s

huge loss.

Twin Blunders that undermined Bangaluru

There are multiple factors which have resulted in the downfall of Bangaluru during the past 25

years. But here we will analyze two main factors only. These are the factors which would have

prevented Bangaluru from becoming highly congested and losing its grandeur of the past.

First, the Dropping of Bangalore-Mysore NICE Corridor Project. During the later part of

1990s Karnataka Government entered into an agreement with the Nandi Infra-structure Company

to build under PPP model a new road linking Bangalore with Mysore to relieve the traffic

congestion on the existing state highway between the two important cities of the state. This new

road was to by-pass Kanakapura, Malavalli and reach Mysore via Bannur. It was a grand plan

which would have benefited both Bangalore and Mysuru. Idea was to develop these two cities as

twin cities like Mumbai and Pune had become due to a new Express High Way link.

A lot of enthusiasm was generated by this project. The land acquisition rights were also granted

to the company and the company started to acquire the land. Suddenly the project got stalled due

to the disputes regarding the road alignment at several places. Government and the Company got

into legal tangle. And the PPP gradually got into cold storage. There were a lot of stories floating

thereafter. Some alleged that some lands belonging to a big political family caused it, some

stated that the percentage of commission to be given to the decision facilitators was the cause,

some said that the competing enterprises sabotaged the entire project by planting discord

between the politicians and the PPP developers and so on. Consequence was legal battles and

total end of this very ambitious project that could have saved Bangalore from its present

situation.

Just imagine for a moment, had this project got through as scheduled, Mysore would have

grown into another industrially well developed city of the state and the country. Lack of political

sagacity and corruption at the top level killed this project as also the prospects of smooth growth

of two important cities! And the central government need not have spent rupees nine thousand

crores on expansion of Mysore – Highway which it is doing now, and the two cities would have

had the advantage of two highways servicing them, instead of only one! The opportunity cost of

such irrational decision to drop the NICE Economic Corridor project have been tremendous,

both in financial terms and in term of economic development.

Has Mysuru Gone Bengaluru Way..? (Part 1 of 7)

 

1. Bangalore’s Glorious Days

During our several meetings with MUDA in connection with Draft of Mysore-Nanjangud Master Plan- 2031 time and again we were assured, both by the Master Plan  consultants and the MUDA top officials, that their main objective was not to allow Mysuru go the Banagaluru-Way. That was between 2013-14. Now  the approved Master Plan is under implementation for nearly past 5 years. The conditions in and around Mysuru, as they stand today, do not seem to support the assurances made by the concerned authorities back then. It looks as though Mysuru has already gone Bangaluru-Way! To understand this stark reality one has to first understand what is meant by Bangaluru-Way? Briefly, the Bangaluru-Way means a ‘failed city.’

Bangaluru- A “Failed City”

In a very recent Editorial a leading newspaper of the state has this to say about our Capital city – “For about a quarter of a century now, one Karnataka Chief Minister after another has been promising Bengaloreans the moon – or rather promising to turn it into a Singapore, a Dubai, a ‘Smart City’, or other dreamscapes. In reality, though, Bengaluru has remained closer to a cratered moon and every aspect of the city and life in it has deteriorated over the years. We are rapidly hurtling towards a point of no return....

...Bengaluru is a failed city in nearly every sense of the term. Not even a single stretch of road is free of potholes, walkable footpaths are non-existent in most areas, building violations and illegal constructions are the order of the day, waste management is a disaster, lakes are fast disappearing or are utterly polluted, the stormwater drain system has been destroyed by the builder-official nexus and the city gets flooded with every downpour, and potable water is still a pipe-dream for many. Even Namma Metro continues to  progress at a snail’s pace and will not have the extensive presence it must have to relieve the city of its traffic mess until well after 2030. Civic bodies and utility agencies remain rampantly corrupt and inefficient and promises to reform them remain unfulfilled.”

Above quote substantially establishes the pathetic conditions prevailing at  present in Bengaluru. But why are we moaning this condition of Bengaluru when most of our major urban centers, not excluding the national capital, are in similar condition? To understand this we will have to very briefly visit the unique place of Benglauru in our state’s and national history.

 

Bangalore – A City with a Touch of Europe!

Magadi Kempegowda is credited with laying the foundations for this city in 1537 with a mud fort. His vision for the city’s expansion could be seen in the boundary pillars he had erected nearly 500 years ago! If Hyder Ali waged a war to claim the control of Bengaluru, his son Tipu Sultan, born in Devanahally,  had left his palace as a memory of his relationship with this city. The British found out that Bangalore (the earlier format of the name) with its higher altitude and thousands of lakes around had a  salubrious weather all round the year. Hence, they established in Bangalore a very important Cantonment. A large number of British citizens, including Winston Churchill, lived here. Europeans and Anglo-Indians who worked and lived in the neighboring Kolar Gold Field gold mines [KGF] patronized Bangalore for their social and commercial requirements. Thus, this city  became an active centre for the Europeans and the Anglo-Indian population. Consequently, Bangalore acquired a shade of an European town!  The Parade Ground and the surrounding complexes of Cinema Houses, the Brigade Road, the Commercial Street and the Mahatma Gandhi Road were full of European touch.

The contributions of the Wadeyars was also substantial in making Bangalore what it was. Even when Mysore City was the Capital of erstwhile  Mysore State Wadeyars had  developed Bangalore with special interests. Town Planning was the fulcrum around which this city grew.  They planned the residential layouts with parks, well laid out roads, road side trees, conservancy lanes,  underground drainage, and the electricity. They also built the palace, buildings with gothic archtieture and  huge gardens. Lalbagh Botanical Garden [Lalbagh], is an old botanical garden in Bengaluru. Said to be first planned and laid out during the dalavoyship of Hyder Ali and later managed under numerous British Superintendents, its Glass House is a model for other gardens.  Huge Cubban Park is another land marks of this city. No surprise that  over a  period  this city came to be known as a Garden City.

As a part of their progressive administrative policies for the State Wadeyars had implemented Regionally Balanced Socio-Economic Policies. As per this suitable industrial units were located in different parts of the state. Bangaluru had got its own share in the form of  Government Soap factory,  Government Electric Factory and many others. However, industrial development being part of planned city development never caused adverse effects on the urban life. Rather it contributed to its socio-economic dynamics.

Post Independence - Dynamic Political Leadership

During the first two decades after independence the state had the good fortune of a very dynamic political leadership. They were men of eminence and integrity coupled with high degree of local concerns. Politicians such as Kadidal Manjappa, K.Hanumanthaiah, and Nijalingappa had national prominence both in the government and the Indian Congress Party.  They gave importance to the socio-economic development of the state in general and the Bangalore city in particular by choosing it as the state capital under great odds. Maintenance of the Heritage of the city was given its due prominence. Location and the architect of Vidhana Soudha stand testimony to the political culture of the time.

A National Industrial Hub

Because of very conducive socio-economic-political environment Bangaluru attracted a series of Public Sector enterprises (many connected with the defense), like HAL, HMT, ITI, BEL, BHEL, Railway Wheels Factory, DRDO, ISRO and many others, which had huge campuses of their own. Even Private Sector, like Kislokar, MICO and  Kisan,  had put up a few important units in and around this city. Foreign collaborations in some of these industries gave Bangalore an international image.  Over a time the city acquired the honor of having Asia’s largest Industrial Estate of ancillary and small units in Peenya. However, industrialization of Bengaluru did not damage the landscape of the city as either they were non-polluting in nature or they were located away from the residential layouts.

Industrialization  enhanced the employment prospects of the citizens. As other major cities of the country had become highly congested and polluted, Bangalore glittered for its elegance, gardens and laid back large city. All over the country Bangalore acquired prominence as a well planned and clean city and a sophisticated large  urban center of the country. So much so, during 1980s when well established businesses houses and industrial units found the Communist rule in Calcutta oppressive,  many of them shifted to Bangaluru. Businessmen and Business Houses from Bombay and Delhi found Bangalore an attractive investment destination as also a very tantalizing living place. By the eighties Bangalore was turning into a large industrial, commercial and a residential city of the country. 

Mysuru Property Owners – A Harassed Lot

Recent notification by the Mysore City Corporation [MCC] asking the property  owners of Mysore City to provide certain ownership documents to enable it to digitize ownership records raises certain fundamental questions with regards to its necessity and  the functioning of the MCC. Further it also unnecessarily exposes the property owners to certain risks. Following facts will confirm the fears of the property owners.

1.     Every Property Owner would have got a construction plan “approved” by the MCC, and only then  carried out the construction of the property in question.

 

2.     At the time of seeking such construction plan for approval, the owner has to  compulsorily provide the ownership document/s along with the Proposed Construction Plan.

 

3.     Before occupying the  constructed property, the Owner has to seek an  “Occupancy Certificate” [OC/NOC] from the  MCC to ensure that the building is as per the approved plan and that there is no variation.  Necessary documents have to be provided at that time also to the MCC.

 

4.     A OC or NOC is given for Occupancy only after an  inspection by the concerned MCC authority who ‘ensures the adherence’ to the approved plan.

 

5.     After OC, it is the MCC which is the authority to issue a Khatha certificate to the building owner after providing necessary documents.

 

6.     It is the MCC which approves the Property Tax based on the measurements of the area of the land and the area of the constructed area where the necessary records and inspection by the MCC authority is involved.

 

7.     Property Tax is modified by the MCC based on the random inspection and verifications by its authority.

 

8.     Such Property Tax establishes the ownership and property details by the MCC.

 

9.     UPOR Certification: Apart from the MCC, in the recent past a government established authority has  scientifically measured and established the ownership of the property in the Mysore City after getting necessary legal documents from its owner and has issued Urban Property Ownership Record [UPOR] for which the owners were made to pay certain fees.

 

That being the case, what is the logic in seeking afresh hard copies of ownership documents, property and its owner’s photos?  Such illogical notification raises following further questions:

1.     Every Property Owner in Mysore is aware of the fact that the MCC is under-staffed and is working with temporary staff. And even a simple annual Property Tax collection is done in a very haphazard manner causing a lot of harassment to the property owners.

 

2.     For reason not publicly known MCC is unable to clear applications for issuing OC/NOC for new property, and  there is a lot of suspicion of corruption in this matter.

 

3.     Recently certain MUDA officials were suspected to have issued fake documents which exposed the lack of safety of ownership records at the hands of the concerned authority.

 

4.     Therefore, with such a large number of temporary employees of the MCC and inefficiency aplenty, how safe will be the copies of original ownership records?

 

5.     Above all, when all necessary  ownership records are / ought to be with the MCC, when the MCC is the issuing authority of KHATHA, where is the need for the owners to once again provide certain legal documents?

 

6.     Most of all, why is it that the UPOR records are NOT accepted by the MCC? And unnecessarily repeating the entire exercise, that too at the cost of the and risk of the owners?

The property owners, (honest ones, of course) in Mysore are a very harassed lot and unnecessarily exposed to risks of misuse of their ownership records. Therefore, it is time to pressurize the concerned government authorities and the MCC to drop this Togalakian step.