“Though there are some objections to merging Srirangapatna in Mandya District with Mysore City Corporation and upgrading the Civic Body into Mysore Bhruhath Mahanagara Palike (MBMP), the Government plans to upgrade MCC into Greater Mysore,” said Urban Development Minister Vinay Kumar Sorake, here yesterday.

Interestingly, Sorake’s announcement comes close on the heels of Chief Minister Siddharamaiah, during his recent visit to Mysore, ruling out the proposal for the upgradation besides urging the civic authorities to utilise the available infrastructure for development of the city.

Stating that the State government had presented a proposal to the Union Government seeking Rs. 10,400 crore for implementing drinking water and road projects in Urban Bodies, he added that the State Government had also sought Rs. 5,200 crore for infrastructure development in Mysore and Bangalore Civic Bodies under JNNURM scheme. He also said that Rs. 100 crore was being released for taking up drinking water projects in Mysore.

The Minister, who said that the Government was contemplating merging of the Local Bodies of Ramanagaram, Chennapatna and Bidadi to form a composite City Corporation apart from merging Mandya and Maddur ULBs to form another City Corporation added that there was also a proposal to upgrade Mangalore City Corporation into a Bhruhath Mahanagara Palike encompassing the Urban Local Bodies of Ullal and Mulki.

Sorake further said there were proposals to upgrade three City Municipal Councils to City Corporations, 15 Town Municipal Councils to City Municipal Councils, 18 Town Panchayats to Town Municipal Councils and 164 Gram Panchayats to Town Panchayats added that all these upgradation works would be done based on 2011 census to achieve growth.

All Deputy Commissioners have been asked to provide reports on upgrading existing Local Bodies, he said and added that the Government would take a suitable decision based on these reports.

He also said that the Department will set up a Land Bank at a cost of Rs.30 crore to make land available for developmental works in Local Bodies except Bangalore as many projects had been stalled due to non-availability of land which had escalated of project costs.

CM & Minister differ

Yesterday’s statement of Urban Development Minister Vinay Kumar Sorake that the Government was contemplating the idea of upgrading MCC to MBMP has triggered speculations that there were sharp differences of opinion among Ministers in the State.

It may be recalled that during his visit to city, Chief Minister Siddharamaiah had categorically stated that there were no proposals before the Government to upgrade MCC into MBMP clarifying that it was not in the Congress manifesto for the recently held Assembly elections.

Courtesy : Star Of Mysore