The Mysuru-Nanjangud Local Planning Area 2031 or the Mysore Master Plan – which is likely to be supplanted by a revised or a new document – was outsourced to a private agency based in Gujarat.
Not a single meeting, involving the public, NGOs, or different agencies, was held; save for a preliminary meeting conducted at the Institution of Engineers. This created an impression that it was a top-down approach.
A section of the stakeholders want the revised planning exercise to be done by local experts. “Mysuru was the first city to initiate urban planning more than 100 years ago and it is a travesty that MUDA should outsource it to an agency which has no local expertise,” said R. Chandraprakash, president of the Mysuru Grahakara Parishat (MGP).
Besides, the three-volume document appeared to give an impression that it was an outcome of a cursory exercise, though four years had gone into its preparation.
For instance, in the section on public transportation in Volume 1 and 2, the document only paints the current scenario while making a profound statement that ‘a mono-rail or a rapid transit system may be required in future’. The document stops at that without stating anything on its implementation.
The MGP and the Association of Concerned and Informed Citizens of Mysore had drawn attention to data on population growth and feared that all planning could go haywire if the projected population growth rate was faulty and hence wanted a revision of the plan document.
MGP founder Bhamy V. Shenoy said no study seems to have gone into the preparation of the master plan, and hence, the entire exercise should be started afresh.
