The Hindu        29.01.2015  

MUDA plans to build 2,000 flats

The Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) plans to build 2,000 flats in Mysuru for citizens who do not own a house or site.

A proposal has been submitted to the State government and the concept has secured in-principle approval. It will come up before the Cabinet for official administrative clearance in a couple of weeks.

MUDA chairman K.R. Mohan Kumar told The Hindu that the apartment units of 1 & 2 BHK are being contemplated on the existing vacant lands held by the authority in old residential areas.

“Once approved, these units will come up in nine layouts, including Srirampura, Vijayanagar 1st, 2nd and 3rd stages, and Lalitadripura,” he said.

The plan is to allot units only to those who have lived in Mysuru for at least 10 years and do not own sites or houses, said Mr. Kumar.

The proposed project also signals MUDA’s preference for vertical growth to arrest the unbridled horizontal sprawl of the city.

“The city cannot keep expanding horizontally forever and vertical growth option has to be explored,” said Mr. Kumar.

The old Mysuru comprising the heritage zones and the existing localities can be retained as they are. But the floor area ratio (FAR) in the new residential layouts coming up along the Outer Ring Road can be increased to facilitate vertical growth, said Mr. Kumar.

(FAR refers to the ratio of the built area to the plot area and is reckoned to be very low in Mysuru at 1.25 to 1.5)

In the newly approved layout at Balahalli, MUDA plans to carve out 6,155 sites in the 484.24 acre swathe of land, apart from leaving aside plots for civic amenities.

Though distributing over 6,000 sites may seem impressive, it pales into insignificance compared to the nearly 1.5 lakh aspirants awaiting a MUDA site.

Though the MUDA nurtured similar plans of constructing luxury apartments a few years ago, the concept did not take off.

However, this time the MUDA has submitted project details pertaining to 2,000 flats to the government for final approval.

The city cannot keep expanding horizontally forever and vertical growth option has to be explored.

K.R. Mohan Kumar,

MUDA chairman