The ‘cash-strapped’ Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) got a breather with Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy announcing a one-time grant of ₹150 crore under the Mahatma Gandhi City Development Plan.
It is unclear how the scheme will be implemented and what its focus area will be exactly as it happens to be a new scheme but it seems that the city’s infrastructure may get a push like in the past when the MCC got a similar grant during the tenure of then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
In the past, the MCC had received ₹100 crore in Mr. Siddaramaiah’s budget which was reportedly by and large used for the improving the city’s underground drainage and other works.
Six double-decker buses
With Mysuru being a major tourist centre, any new project that boosts tourist footfall is welcome by stakeholders. The CM has allocated ₹5 crore for launching six double-decker buses for sight-seeing in the ‘City of Palaces’. Stakeholders in the tourism industry had sought buses along the lines of London Big Bus to boost tourism.
A double-decker bus which is in the fleet of BMTC in Bengaluru was procured during the Dasara festivities here last year to promote tourism, and take tourists around the city for sight-seeing. This initiative was well-received. This was perhaps the driving force behind the announcement, the stakeholders say.
Metro feasibility study
Though Mysuru hasn’t gone the Bengaluru way, there is a view that Mysuru needs to be planned for the future and therefore Mr. Kumaraswamy announced a feasibility study for Metro Rail project in Mysuru.
More than a decade ago, the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) had ordered a survey in its budget to study the feasibility of having a metro rail for the city. This was much before the Metro Rail project came to Bengaluru.
Mysuru went a step ahead and sought a survey for the metro rail to facilitate an integrated transport network system. The MUDA had said that the survey would be restricted to ascertain the feasibility of having a metro system.
Though such a survey did not take place as announced, another announcement was made in the MUDA budget in the subsequent years for the metro feasibility study. It is not clear whether this particular survey was done and a report was submitted to the government. The MUDA had also announced to engage the Railway authorities in the survey.
The other budget highlights for Mysuru include a State-level training centre for workers of Women and Child Development; well-equipped language skill centres in Mysuru in addition to Bengaluru, Belagavi and Kalaburagi and setting up of a e-governance cell at Administrative Training Institute in Mysuru and in all district training institutes.
₹5 cr. for Urban Haat
The budget has allocated ₹5 crore for providing systematic facilities and upgradation of Urban Haat for artisans in Mysuru through Sri Suttur Mutt, Mysuru. The JSS Urban Haat has been functioning in Hebbal Industrial Area for over a decade.
