Nanjaraja choultry panel to take possession of lands

The managing committee of the 128-year-old Nanjaraja Bahadur Choultry has a Herculean task before it in sourcing copies of old documents related to the property and in taking possession of all its lands.

C Krishnappa, president of the committee, said, the estate was under the erstwhile Mysuru City Council (MCC) and was handed over to the Religious Endowment (Muzarai) department in 1993.

“The land of the choultry has been either leased out in parts or transferred to some government agency on all four sides. While some parties, whose lease period has expired, are still occupying the lands, some have illegally encroached upon the lands. Inside the choultry compound also, retired employees of the choultry are residing. Some of them have put up some temporary structures. I have asked even existing staff of the choultry to vacate the quarters to facilitate overall development,” he said.

“The choultry, which was in great demand a few decades ago, was subject to
neglect by the people as its rent was increased to Rs 33,000 per day from Rs 3,000, all of a sudden in 1992. Now, the choultry survives only on the exhibition-cum-sale by
migrating businessmen. The two small halls are rented out at Rs 9,000 per day each, while the big hall is priced at Rs 12,000. The monthly maintenance of the choultry needs Rs 5 lakh, including staff salary, power and water bills. Only 35% of the revenue can be used for maintenance, so the choultry should generate a minimum revenue of Rs 15 lakh per month,” he said.

“Due to the apathy of the officials and also due to political pressure, the precious lands have been leased out to some business establishments for paltry sums. King’s Kourt, a hotel on the Jhansi Lakshmi Bai Road side, is on an extended lease period for a monthly land rent of Rs 3,000 plus GST, per month. It occupies a plot of over 120X140 feet. Its lease of 30 years ended in 2009. But, it was extended for another 10 years with a revised land rent of Rs 3,000. The present lease ends on March 31, 2019. We, in the managing committee meeting, have already passed a resolution, not to continue the lease and have sent it for further action by the Deputy Commissioner. We want to take possession of the land and the building and invite fresh bids for leasing out,” Krishnappa said. “On the contrary, we have leased out a 10X10 plot on the Dewans Road side to the KMF for a milk booth for a monthly land rent of Rs 4,440 per month, including GST. However, we want to cancel all lease agreements and take all encroached lands into possession to develop the entire premises, of over 10 acres, comprehensively. We would come out with a master plan for the purpose soon,” he said.

The members of the managing committee are: N R Ramprasad, Pushpavalli, Gundu Venkatesh Kumar, K Ramesh, Veena, Chandrasekhar, Varadaraju and Chandrakala, with Krishnappa as president, the Deputy Commissioner as administrative officer, Muzarai Tahsildar as secretary and Uma as manager.