Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah says MUDA is rotten to the core, promises cleansing, insists no wrong-doing in compensatory site allotment to wife in Mysuru

Siddaramaiah questioned what MUDA members were doing when the land belonging to his wife was illegally occupied, or when compensatory sites were allotted in lieu of the encroached land, which was developed and sold by MUDA.  

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah sought to draw a distinction between irregularities in sites allotted under 50:50 scheme by misusing the facility offered by Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) and the authority compensating his wife for illegally occupying her land.

Speaking to mediapersons in Mysuru on July 11, Mr. Siddaramaiah insisted that there was no wrong-doing with regard to sites allotted to his wife Parvathi by MUDA, which had illegally occupied her land. “Not only has the MUDA accepted its mistake in writing, but the authority agreed to compensate her for the loss by giving alternative sites,” said Mr. Siddaramaiah.

The MUDA followed the precedent set in the case of Sundaramma. Her land was also illegally occupied by the MUDA. The High Court of Karnataka ordered MUDA to grant the same extent of land to her.

The 50:50 scheme is applicable in case of property owners who surrender their land to the MUDA, which allots 50% of the sites developed on the land in lieu of compensation. ‘’In our case, we did not surrender the land. Our land was illegally occupied by MUDA. Hence, compensatory site allotment was made,” said Mr. Siddaramaiah.

Notably, he admitted that administration of the MUDA had deteriorated over the years. “The authority is rotten and needs to be cleansed. But that will be done only after the investigation is completed and a report is submitted to the government of Karnataka. The 50:50 scheme is in vogue in all urban development authorities, and is beneficial to the authority concerned, but the MUDA commissioners and others have misused the scheme,” he added.

Mr. Siddaramaiah questioned what MUDA members were doing when the land was illegally occupied, or when compensatory sites were allotted in lieu of the land, which was developed and sold by MUDA.  

On pegging the value of the land as ₹60 crore, Mr. Siddaramaiah said, “As per the land acquisition Act, compensation has to be paid at thrice the market rate, including rate of interest, all of which adds up to ₹62 crore.”