A year of good, bad and worse

Rewind

The year 2010, especially for Mysoreans will definitely be remembered for long mainly for two reasons-the fag end of the year that witnessed a ghastly mishap claiming 31 lives after a maxicab fell into Undabatti Tank on Mysore- Nanjangud road on December 14. It was also the highest deaths ever in an accident in the recent past. And, the ‘Jamboo Savari’ on October 17 that marked 400th year of ‘Naada Habba’ Dasara that was revived by Raja Wadiyar in Srirangapatna four centuries ago.

Much before the Mysoreans could come out of the grief aftermath of Undabatti Tank mishap, yet another incident, if not that grave, rattled them. Six persons were killed in an explosion at a scrap yard on Ummer Khayyam Road in TIlak Nagar. Four were burnt to death, while two succumbed to burns after battling for life for some days.

How can one forget the bus accident involving Mysoreans who were on Nepal tour in April. Two were killed and four women were left handicapped for life losing their hands. They were on their way to Kashi when the bus full of people from Mysore, turned turtle at Kathmandu. One woman died subsequently, while another succumbed after battling for life at Kathmandu Hospital for several months.

Holy Family Church in Hinkal was attacked by some miscreants causing anxious moments in the city. An idol of Jesus Christ was damaged, adding to the increasing cases of church attacks across the State.

The year began with the death of noted actor of Kannada filmdom K S Ashwath on January 18. The actor who was ailing for sometime, breathed his last. Doyen of Kannada film industry K S Ashwath was known for his supportive roles. The actor was ailing for sometime.

With this illustrious career of the great actor the Kannada film industry witnessed came to an end. He was widely popular as ‘Chamaiah Meshtru’ the role that brought him and lead actor of the movie ‘Naagarahaavu’, Vishnuvardhan popularity.

For Vishnuvardhan it was also his launch pad. Incidentally, Vishnuvardhan predeceased Ashwath on January 30, 2009. Another actor, known for his comedy in quirky tone K S Rathnakar too passed away ahead of the end of 2010.

For police, it was a mix of both good and bad. They hit headlines busting a racket of mobile SIM cards on June 24, where in genuine documents of customers were duplicated for multiple customers. Initially, the cops could detect 100 such numbers, that grew manifold further.

In the later days, the cops arrested an executive belonging to a private cellular service provider, allegedly at the behest of whom the distributors had been practicing the irregularity. The cops hit a new high, when the Police Commissioner Sunil Agarwal was provided an opportunity to make a presentation on the case, at the annual conference of DG and IGs of Police of all the States in New Delhi.

The other cases that put the cops in good stead include the arrest of a gang of three recovering nine vehicles worth Rs 43 lakh, highest ever in a case, by N R Police. Lashkar Police cracked a psychopath Kommerahalli Girish who had brutally murdered four sex workers in Mysore and Mandya districts.

 Keeping in tune with the technology, 42 CCTV cameras were installed at select locations, besides adding 14 Police Control Room (PCR) vehicles to strengthen the patrolling unit on July 24. To curb hazardous parking of four-wheelers, ‘wheel lock’ system was also introduced in the year on June 11.

Moreover, special operations like ‘Operation Sunset’, ‘Operation Sunrise’ and ‘Operation midnight’ were launched in the wake of rising cases of chain snatching, daylight thefts and robberies.  When a jolly drive turned into a tragic claiming the life of a youth atop Chamundi Hills, ‘Operation Chamundi’ was launched and it also yielded good results for the police, in preventing youths from making the secluded places at the hills, their joints.

Education
State Government’s decision to initiate a criminal action against former vice-chancellor of University of Mysore, Prof J Shashidhara Prasad following the findings of Justice Rangavittalachar Commission’s report caused fissures among litterateurs. Prasad had been accused of violating the roster system while appointing faculty during his tenure at the varsity.

A section of litterateurs rallied behind Prasad. The issue took a significant turn, when the Governor H R Bhardwaj, also Chancellor of Universities, allegedly interfered in the case.
Following directions from the Governor, the Department of Higher Education had forwarded a letter to the University asking the latter to put on hold the decision on initiating criminal action against Prasad, at the Syndicate meeting, until the government clarified some queries of the Governor. The high drama hit another ‘high’ with Governor taking Vice-Chancellor Prof V G Talawar to task, during one of his visits to the city. Talawar had promised to look into the demand for action against Prasad when a group of ABVP activists staged a protest in front of Crawford Hall, a cause for Governor to reprimand him in public.

Malegalali Madhumagalu
On the cultural front, Kuvempu’s famous work ‘Malegalali Madhumagalu’ was adapted into stage by theatre director C Basavalingaiah and was staged for a month from April 23. It was also a first such experiment in the history of Rangayana, theatre repertory of the State.

Railways
South Western Railways (SWR), Mysore division, added several passenger friendly amenities to their existing services. From improving the waiting lounges to introducing wi-fi facilities for internet users, and exclusive website of Mysore railway station, the railway authorities launched many passenger friendly programmes in the year. A mishap near Nadanahalli Railway Crossing on June 12, claimed lives of a tipper lorry driver and cleaner. The lorry carrying construction materials for the ongoing track doubling works rammed into the Basava Express Train coming from Dharwad to Mysore on that day.

Students shone
Though Mysore district slipped to 24th slot in SSLC results, from 21st in the previous year, there was a reason to cheer. Aishwarya S a girl from the city and student of Marimallappa’s High School had emerged topper scoring.  In second PUC results too, a lass, Dhanashree Nayak of JSS Women’s College was adjudged second topper in commerce.

Rahul makes a visit
MP and All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary Rahul Gandhi interacted with the students at St Philomena’s College.

Incidentally it was also his first visit to the city. Rahul replied to the queries of the students on several issues related to national integrity, India’s aid to Srilanka, relevance of Mahatma Gandhiji’s teachings and most importantly corruption that has been hampering India’s growth in the recent past.

Another Gandhi too
MP Maneka Gandhi, also an animal welfare activist laid foundation stone for the hospital by People for Animals (PFA) at Roopanagar.  

Seers undertake padayatra
Pejawar Mutt Seer Sri Vishwesha Theertha  undertakes padayatra in madigas’ colony on (July 31) in an attempt to bridge the gap between the upper and lower castes in the society.

He was followed by seer Sri Madara Channaiah (Sep 15) who stayed overnight in a brahmin’s house, before going on a padayatra in Brahmins colony.

Newcomers
Senior IPS officer A S N Murthy took charge as IGP (Southern range) on April 28, followed by Harsh Gupta as Deputy Commissioner of Mysore district on June 4, K B Markandeya as Zoo Executive Director on July 10, Manish Kharbikar as Superintendent of Police on December 7.

‘The Pack’ wins Oscar
Noted wildlife photographers duo from Mysore Krupakar-Senani won ‘Green Oscar Award’ for their documentary ‘The Pack’ on dhol (asiatic wild dogs) in an international film festival. The documentary was recently screened at Kalamandira to houseful audience.

In-charge minister
After much dilly-dallying, the district finally got an in-charge minister with Krishnaraja MLA S A Ramdas making it into the cabinet. With his appointment, long pending demand for feting a legislator from Mysore with the berth was addressed.

Awards for city
It was an year of awards with the city winning award for being the second cleanest city after Chandigarh. Recently also, the city won award for best management of works undertaken under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) project.
The much awaited verdict on Badanavalu caste clashes came on November 4, 2010. Of the total 23 accused in the case, three had died during the course of trial. The remaining 20 were sentenced to life by Sixth Additional District and Sessions Court. Three including a father and son duo were killed in an attack by people belonging to upper caste in Badanvalu village in Nanjangud taluk in the district in 1993.

It led to another such incident, where a mob belonging to a particular community raided several houses belonging to another community in Ummattur village.