JOIN USSpeaking at the MUDA budget meeting here on Monday, MLA H S Shankarlingegowda, MLCs Siddaraju, Thontadarya and Srikantegowda opined that the prices of land had come down due to recession and hence, the authority should slash the rates. One of the main objectives of the authority was to distribute sites for the needy people and not profit making, they said.
When Shankarlingegowda sought to know the reasons to hike the rates of sites, MUDA Commissioner P C Jayanna and Regional Commissioner M V Jayanthi said that it had become inevitable for the authority, as the cost of land had skyrocketted in and around the city and it had to shell out more on land acquisition. However, Jayanthi said a proposal to this effect will be placed before the sub-committee and a final decision would be taken at a meeting to be held later.
Commenting on the previous year budget , Thontadarya said that MUDA had expected an income of Rs 33,823.41 lakh, but it could generate only Rs 6,077.49 lakh. The commissioner owes an explanation for the dismal performance of the authority in the previous financial year, he added.
Jayanna in his reply said that the authority was unable to reach the target as no new layouts were formed. Even the auctioning of commercial places, sites was very less last year. The members who vouched Thontadarya’s statement wanted the authorities concerned to take steps to reach the target without fail.
They also demanded an explanation from the commissioner on earmarking only Rs five lakh for the survey works under the greater Mysore concept, whereas Rs 15 lakh was earmarked for paper works related to preparation of by-law and regulation copies.