Flex-free city: Mayor 'cares' a hoot

Mayor and elected representatives blatantly violate council ruling of 2011

In a classic case of the ‘fence eating the crop’, Corporators have put up publicity materials according to their whims and fancies, defying their own ruling. Strangely, the Mayor who is considered as the first citizen of the city, is also a party to it.

Most of the elected representatives, a majority of them representing the Janata Dal (Secular) party have erected publicity materials of types — wishing K R Nagar MLA Sa Ra Mahesh, from the same party, on his 48th birthday.

Mayor N M Rajeshwari, along with her husband T R Somu, has put up flex boards on electric poles on the median of JLB Road near Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) Circle. 

To top it all, over 40-foot-tall flex board has been put up at the same circle, with a life size portrait of the MLA in the centre and portraits of his followers on both sides. Similar hoardings and boards have been put up in and around the junction with portraits of several other corporators and other local body members — Corporator Satish (Sandesh Swamy) also a former mayor and ZP member C J Dwarkish, among others.

One may wonder, why flex boards and hoardings only in the radius of MUDA junction. The answer is, the MLA’s office is situated on Sita Vilas Road, a few yards away from MUDA and his house is also situated nearby, on Dewan’s road. Even both the venues are full of publicity materials, as a huge hoarding has been up in front of the MLA’s house, besides various types of boards decorating the exterior and interior of the office.

Strangely, the elected representatives of the Mysore City Corporation (MCC) have acted in a nonchalant manner, less than a fortnight after the MCC warned of action against people indulging in disfiguring the city by erecting publicity materials in violation of the council ruling.

According to the reminder of the order, released on July 30, from the office of the deputy commissioner of the MCC, “It has been decided in the general council meeting held on December 29, 2011 to make the city free from flex, banner and posters, keeping in view the heritage city tag. In case of any violation, the offenders will be dealt under The Karnataka Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, 1981.

The MCC deputy commissioner had set a deadline till August 15 for the violators to voluntarily remove publicity materials.