VVWW accumulates 500 tonnes scrap

Scrap worth over Rs one crore yet to be disposed; MCC officials pulled up

Mysore City Corporation’s accumulation of 500 tonnes of scrap from the past six years; non-development of the Rs 15 crore worth Mayura complex; failure of the Garuda Mall management to pay lakhs of rupees of lease amount, due to improper land allotment, were among the issues that came to fore during the inspection of Standing committee on Taxation, Finance and Appeal of Mysore City Corporation, here on Monday. 

President of the committee B L Byrappa who slammed officials, said that from the past six years scrap including century old huge iron pipes, steel, electronics items, pumps and other discarded materials had been dumped at Vani Vilas Water Works premises. Due to apathy of the MCC officials, the place which supplies drinking water to the entire city, had now turned into a dump yard with scrap strewn all over the place.

Officials had not taken any measures even after there was a theft of pipes in the premises in the month of December, he said. Officials present at the spot said that the entire scrap was worth Rs 1 crore.

It was also noticed that ‘Toilet on Wheels’, (toilets purchased by MCC to be used during government functions) lying rusted and unused. There are about 10 such toilets, including VIP toilets.

Mall controversy

Garuda Mall, set up in the MCC premises is situated in the heart of the city. The Mall however is yet to pay dues worth Rs 80 lakh to the MCC for the last six month. MCC officials said that as per the agreement, the civic body had agreed to lease about 4 acres and 10 guntas of land to the Mall. Due to some glitches, only two acres and 68 guntas of land was leased out. Irked by this, the Mall had refused to pay the lease amount fixed at Rs 3 crore per year. However after negotiations, the lease amount was fixed at Rs 36 lakh for three months. 

Mulitplex

The Mall which also has a multiplex however had to stop running the same after Deputy Commissioner C Shikha refused to grant the Completion Report (CR) due to non-payment of lease amount. It is said that Governor H R Bhardwaj had inaugurated the multiplex and had watched the first show.

MCC officials said that the Mall had asked to pay the amount in installments. Officials also added that additional land would be leased to the Mall, shortly. They also highlighted that as per the agreement the Mall was required to restore the temple, adjacent to it.Land unutilised.

Years ago, 39,546 sq feet land near Ballal circle was handed over to a private party for development on lease. However, the lesse did not develop it and MCC had cancelled the lease, with the lesse moving the court for sudden cancellation. The court gave a verdict in favour of MCC, a year ago.

“Even after a year, the land which costs around Rs 15 crore has been abandoned. MCC officials are not keen on developing it,” alleged Byrappa. He added that documents related to the property were missing. Like Mayura complex, there were several other properties owned by MCC that had been abandoned without any development. Some of them had also been encroached upon, he added.

Water tax from Railway

Byrappa added that MCC had recovered Rs 80 lakh water dues from SWR out of Rs 1.1 crore. Falcon Tyre, which had paid water dues of Rs 36 lakh, was expected to clear the remaining amount by the end of this month.